I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - THE FUTURE IS IN THE PAST
by danno7576
Summary: On top of going crazy because of the long wait, Steve's mind replayed everything that had happened earlier that day. It simply had been a straightforward attempt to kill Danny. The man came in, chose Danny and pulled the trigger; leaving Danny fighting for his life. Tag to S08E10 and S08E11. Just filling in the blanks between the actual scenes, adding more whump.
1. Chapter One part 1

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - THE FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Hi everyone, here's my take on what I think happened in between the actual scenes. Don't get me wrong it was an excellent and sensational episode, but I truly missed a few things that I would've loved seeing. As usual I just started writing and it completely got out of control. It could've been a one shot, but I'm currently writing chapter ten.**

 **Yes, I know what you're thinking, this episode aired last year around the holidays. So it's true, it took me a full year to write this story, and yet it feels like it's the shittiest one ever. Would've loved to spent more time on this piece, but I didn't have much free time the past year.**

 **This story is not nearly finished and I have no idea how long it's going to take for me to write the several chapters that are still wandering my mind. I don't think it's gonna take another full year, so since it's a story centered around the holidays I decided to start posting as it would be weird to read a Christmas tale in spring or even summer. Bear with me while I try to finish as fast as I can.**

 **My apologies for any grammar mistakes, there's no beta on this one and it's not because I think I don't need it, it's because I know it takes a lot to beta read. We all live busy life's especially with the holidays coming up. Nonetheless, enjoy reading!**

 **CHAPTER ONE PART l**

 _When doctor Keller told Steve to make an incision in Danny's chest. Steve was overwhelmed with angst. Terrified to be exact. He was asked to cut with a knife so sharp that an attempt of saving his friend's life, could escalate with one wrong move into ending Danny's life. At the moment there was no other choice and if cutting with a scalpel into the chest wall would stabilize Steve's partner, he would do it, no questions asked._

 _Even with his heart caught in his throat. His thoughts running 100 miles an hour. Beads of sweat covering his forehead and while his body was trembling with adrenaline. Even then he would do it. Only given the situation of being locked in by a motion censored bomb, Steve needed someone to tell him that if what he was about to do would go wrong, people would be able to come in to save his best friend either way. Hell, he needed more than such an assurance. He needed a promise._

 _While holding onto the respirator, Steve looked up to the one team member standing outside the Quarantine unit. Anxious tears were burning in Steve's eyes while his heart hammered in his chest. "Hey Lou, tell me you're getting us out of here."_

 _"All we need is a couple minutes. We are going to get you out of there."_

 _For Steve's sake, the procedure did stabilize Danny for the time being. And nonetheless, Lou kept his promise. Even when the wall didn't completely come down after the small explosion, Lou worked on keeping his promise and started bringing it down with a sledgehammer. In no time doctors came running in, they wheeled Danny out of the room and rushed him to the O.R._

 _Watching his partner getting wheeled out Steve realized the strong urge to do whatever it took, to help his friend, wasn't about the need to be the one that saved Danny's life. Actually, the opposite was what mattered most to him. He couldn't have been the one that let his friend die. However, after they took Danny up for surgery, it was out of Steve's hands. Which had made everything worse and the thought of losing Danny made him sick to his stomach. Danny just had to be okay. He had to survive._

 _Being a trained Navy SEAL, Steve knew surviving was just a matter of pushing through and facing whatever would come his way. It was a state of mind, and luckily for him, he was genetically wired that way. For Steve, his friends and family were the power within his wires. Even when something happened to either of them, he would fight through. He would survive because that's just simply what he does. It was in his nature to think like that. To always fight his way through the battle and conquer his fears. Survive. No matter what, he would survive._

 _Except for today. For the first time in his life, if he would lose Danny, Steve knew he wouldn't survive that kind of loss. More important; he wouldn't want to survive._

 **06:17 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - WAITING ROOM - SURGICAL FLOOR**

Every human being would be bored if they were cooped up in a waiting room for three straight hours. Not Steve McGarrett. He was already bored if he had to wait for five minutes. Let alone waiting for several hours in a waiting room. One that was filled with people and barely any personal space. As those hours had passed by Steve was going crazy and willing to check himself in at a mental institution. On top of going crazy because of the long wait, his mind was also spinning on everything that had happened earlier that day. It simply had been a straightforward attempt to kill Danny. The man came in, chose Danny and pulled the trigger trying to kill him.

In just a matter of seconds, life had completely turned around, and it was not for the better. Steve had no clue on why the man shot Danny, especially since Danny didn't even recognize him. Despite the fact that he couldn't identify the shooter, he regardlessly got shot in a blink of an eye. Steve had stopped thinking about the gunman as his mind had been occupied with finding ways to keep his partner alive and stable. Only now during this frightening long wait, his mind drifted back, willing to find answers. Answers he didn't have.

Luckily Kamekona decided to brighten up the mood and ended the horrible silence in which you could figuratively hear all minds spinning of everyone who was around. The five-0 task force along with, Eric, Adam, Kamekona, and Flippa were all anxiously waiting to hear if Danny was going to make it. After a little banter about Steve's new haircut, someone he knew finally walked through the door of the waiting area. Instead of leaning against the pinkish counter, Steve straightened and went up to the seasoned doctor he met a few days prior to the shooting. "Hey, Doc."

Following Steve's lead, everyone stood up from their uncomfortable seats and gathered around Dr. Keller. Nobody dared to say something, they just waited for the surgeon to speak up.

The doctor placed his hands on his hips and let out a deep sigh. "It was, uh, touch and go for a while, but, um…" the man paused, and with each passing second the dreadful silent grew longer. Fear crossed Steve's face, his eyes glistened with some tears from anxiety. Please let him be fine. Repeat. The refrain pounded in his brain as loudly as the sharp gunshot that pierced Danny's chest that day. Dr. Keller clearly needed to shake off some tension from performing a life-threatening surgery, but eventually, he went on. "He pulled through,"

Steve put his hands on his hips and briefly bowed his head. He closed his eyes, letting all the awful thoughts that wandered his mind disappear. He didn't even notice, but when he let out a huge exhale, he figured he had been holding his breath waiting until the doctor confirmed his hopes and prayers. Receiving the good news, all of them cheered in their own way.

Doctor Keller double confirmed, showing a small smile this time. "He's gonna be okay." With those words, everybody was reassured, and some started high-fiving each other, putting their minds at rest.

Eric was beyond relieved and responded as overly excited as he sometimes could be. "Can we see him?"

"He's not conscious yet, but as soon as he is, we'll get you in there." The doctor promised.

Steve hadn't moved yet, the day had taken such an absurd turn that he needed a moment to process. Every hostile thought of losing his best friend luckily remained just a thought. Losing Danny was something he wasn't near being ready to let it ever be real. "Thanks, Doc."

Tani placed her hand on Dr. Keller's shoulder and looked sincere at the man. "Thank you."

Steve gave the doctor a firm handshake and a quick embrace, expressing his gratitude. Dr. Keller accepted and glanced once more around the room before stepping out again. Steve turned as a hand touched his shoulder. Junior patted a few times, and a broad smile beamed on his face. Adam pulled Eric in a hug, many others followed the example and hugs were being shared. For a moment Steve couldn't believe the wait was finally over. Realizing that, he opened his arms to give Tani a brief hug. The kid had done well given the situation. Both Tani and Junior did though. They hadn't known each other for an extensive amount of time, but the way they acted today, Steve knew they both had become family.

Although Steve was relieved by the good news, he couldn't shake the feeling he had in his gut. While the doctor delivered the update, Steve noticed that Dr. Keller was tensed when he said it was touch and go for a while. Something had gone wrong, or at least something had happened. Steve was certain about it, he could feel it. He left the waiting room without giving any notice. His eyes were fixated on the one man that could give him some answers. Dr. Keller. He was standing at the end of the hallway near a whiteboard hanging on the wall. Approaching the doctor, Steve saw him erase a name from the medical board. Williams, D.

Steve cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Doc?"

The man in question turned around. "Commander McGarrett, anything I can help you with?"

Steve scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, um, you said it was touch and go for a while? It made me wonder if there were any complications during the surgery? I mean, I'm aware it was a close call back in quarantine, but after I alleviated the pressure in his chest, he seemed stabilized, right?"

Dr. Keller gave him a lopsided grin. "I figured you would see right through me," he admitted before he went straight to the point. "Commander, you did stabilize him; unfortunately, that was only a temporary fix. We got detective Williams as quickly as possible to the O.R, which was in his favor. Only when I surgically placed the chest tube and started working on repairing his chest wall, he went into traumatic cardiac arrest."

Steve's face went blank, and his stomach dropped. "His heart stopped?"

"It did, but with a series of chest compressions, we were able to get his heart working properly again. The arrest didn't take long, so I don't foresee any problems with brain function due to oxygen deprivation," the doctor continued as Steve probably didn't seem convinced by the short explanation. "Commander, cardiac arrest is a potential complication of a traumatic tension pneumothorax. In fact, not getting the oxygen he needed because of the puncture, it leads to hypoxemia, in which oxygen-poor blood is unable to supply cells, tissues, and organs with the oxygen they need. This caused severe dysfunction of his cardiovascular system."

Not completely understanding what the doctor was saying Steve placed his hands on his hips, hunching his shoulders. "Okay, but he's fine now, right? No aftermath?"

"I'm not gonna lie, there are some concerns. Scar tissue for example. As his lung heals, it may develop scar tissue at the site of the puncture. This tough tissue can cause permanent breathing difficulties, as it can interfere with the expansion and contraction during in- and exhalation. The scarring to the pleura can develop after treatment and can result in intermittent, sharp, localized, chest pain in short term. So if it does occur, we'll know soon enough," doctor Keller quickly tried to comfort as Steve's solicitous feelings, matched his facial expression.

However, the doctor wasn't finished yet. "Second, the bullet missed his heart by three millimeters. So once the wound starts to heal, layers of tissue will start building up from the inside. It might cause some adhesions, and I can't promise whether it interferes with his heart function. It will be something that can occur later on, but during the cardiac follow-ups, they can monitor this closely."

Directly being worried, Steve covered his mouth with his hand and smoothed downwards. "That sounds quite serious and not like just some concerns."

"It does, but at the moment he's doing fine. He's young, living an active and healthy life. We'll get serious once any of that occurs. For now, detective Williams will need his rest. His chest might feel sore, and the rest of his body went through major trauma, but I expect him to feel slightly better in a few days." Dr. Keller reassured.

Steve nodded understandingly. There was one thing left that bothered him, so he asked. "I know we have to wait until he's conscious and all, but is there any chance someone can be with him when he wakes up? It doesn't feel right that he's alone."

Dr. Keller remained quiet. He sighed before he spoke. "I'll make an exception this time, but he needs his rest, so I'll allow one person to be with him," the male physician grabbed a tablet from the stationing dock aside from him. "Commander, any relatives have precedence."

"Yeah, of course," Steve swallowed trying to hide his disappointment. He'd rather go himself, but he understood the doctor's perspective.

"I don't know which one of them is his closest Family?" Dr. Keller looked aside Steve, referring to all the people in the room at the end of the hallway.

Steve glanced over his shoulder back into the waiting area. The Ohana were still hugging each other after receiving the good news. Watching them, Steve suddenly noticed that nobody except Eric were Danny's real family. Saddened by the fact that Danny's closest family couldn't be with him, Steve felt overwhelmed that the waiting room was filled nonetheless. He faced the doctor again and pointed with his thumb back toward Eric standing a few yards behind him. "Actually only his nephew is here."

"Okay, so no parents, brothers or sisters or maybe a spouse we should contact? What about his ex-wife and kids? Have they been notified?" Dr. Keller wondered.

"We have notified all of them. Only his parents and sisters live in New Jersey, so I don't think they'll come. His ex-wife and kids are coming back from the mainland though, but that will take a while before they can be here. So, for now, it's just Eric, Danny's nephew." Steve explained.

"Good, my guess is he'll be pleased to see him," the doctor smiled comfortingly. "I'll be checking up on Detective Williams first thing, so the boy might have to wait a couple of minutes, but you can send him up to the PACU."

Steve smiled in return. "Great, I'll tell the kid." Dr. Keller nodded agreeing. Steve turned and walked back to the waiting area.

 **-TOBECONTINUED-**


	2. Chapter One part 2

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - THE FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **CHAPTER ONE PART ll**

Stopping in the door opening Steve called out. "Eric," he had to raise his voice a little to overcome the chatter.

When he got the boy's attention, he waved him over. Alarmed by the request, Eric stood within a second in front of Steve. It probably spooked him that Steve wanted to speak with him in private because he gazed with wide eyes at the commander.

Eric didn't say a word, he just stared, so Steve started. "Listen, kid, I asked the doc once more if someone could be with Danny when he wakes up, and he agreed to it. Family comes first so you can sit with your uncle if you want."

Frankly, Eric was a bit overwhelmed by the offer because he started rambling. "Really? That's great! I mean I think so. I don't know. What am I supposed to do? Sit beside his bed until he wakes up? He doesn't want me there. I'm not the person who should be with him, you are."

"No, that's not true, Eric. He would want you there." It didn't matter how badly Steve wanted to be with his friend, he genuinely thought Danny would like to have Eric there.

Eric snorted. "You and I both know that if I'm there, he's gonna make fun of me once he's back to his old self again. Or maybe from the minute he opens his eyes. I have to call my mom anyway, so you should go be with him."

Steve looked the boy straight in his eyes. "Eric, he's not going to make fun of you for being there for him. He might tease a little, but he won't be meaning any of it. I know it's probably a bit terrifying to see him like this, but he's fine. He's still the same uncle who likes to make fun of you, and at the same time he's incredibly proud of you."

Eric's eyes widened and darted, searching for any kind of truth. "He said that to you?"

Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well… he didn't use those exact words, okay, but I can tell he is."

Disappointment transformed Eric's face. He tried to hide it, but the blessing of his uncle seemed to mean the world to him. "I'll come to see him once he's awake."

"Are you sure?" Steve questioned. He had tried, and that was all he could. It wasn't his place to force the kid to go in and see his uncle. Eric was old enough to make his own decisions, and Steve would respect them, whether they were in his favor or not.

"Yeah, totally. I know that he made it through and that he's going to be all right so I can wait a little longer. I'm sure of it." While saying it, Eric sounded like he was trying to persuade himself rather than to convince Steve.

Steve put his hand on Eric's shoulder. "Okay, I'll text you the minute he's awake. The doctor probably wants to check him out first, but you all can come over to visit, all right?"

"Sure thing." The kid nodded.

Steve gave Eric a quick squeeze in his shoulder before he got sight of Lou trying to make eye contact with him. Connecting, Lou signaled with his head toward the hallway. The noticeably taller man went past both Steve and Eric and stepped out of the waiting room. Steve understood the urge and followed Lou directly. They went just far enough so the rest of them wouldn't hear them. Lou slipped his hands in his pockets. "What's going on, is everything okay with Danny?"

"Yeah, he'll be all right, don't worry. I just didn't want him to wake up alone, so I asked the doctor once more. He agreed and allowed one person to be with Danny. Eric is family, but he didn't want to, he said that I should go."

"And you should," Lou encouraged. "Before you ask, the HPD Officer is still guarding the door, she went straight from the O.R door to the recovery's, and during transport, she didn't leave Danny's side. He hasn't been alone."

"Good." Steve was glad to hear Lou's update.

"Why are you still hanging around here? Go see your partner, man." Lou smiled and jerked his head in the direction of the elevator.

"I will. It's just, something's not sitting right with me. I mean the gunman, we have to ID him somehow. Do you think Jerry would mind working the case? Maybe he can check the visitor's log of the quarantine unit. The shooter had to sign in; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to come inside." Steve had a lot of time to think about it, but not the means to pursue his suspicions. The visitor's log might or might not lead to something, but it would be worth checking out.

"Hey,-" Lou tried, but Steve interjected him. "Yeah, I know. I'm going. It's probably going to take a while for Danny to wake up so just go home, all of you. Get a good night of sleep and start fresh in the morning. It's been a long day for all of us."

Jerry wandered his way into the hallway. "Commander?"

"What's up, Jerry?"

"Here," Jerry took a black cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to Steve. "I forgot to give it to you earlier, but I got you a phone from the office. Your old SIM card still worked, so I put it in this one."

Steve accepted the phone and put it in his own pocket. "Thank you." It was precisely the same as his previous phone, the one that had been smashed by the shooter a few hours ago.

"Just go be with Danny. I'll handle it over here, okay?" Lou put his hand reassuring on Steve's shoulder.

Steve nodded appreciatively. "All right, thanks, Lou."

 **07:25 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - PACU - SURGICAL FLOOR**

After waiting for three and a half hours that afternoon, you would say Steve was used to waiting. But the closer he was to seeing his friend the more laborious the wait seemed to be. Earlier when Steve went up to the surgical floor, he waited another additional 15 minutes until the doctor finished the checkup. Add those minutes to the dreadfully long wait in the waiting area, and it seemed like it had been forever since he'd seen Danny. However Steve could still picture Danny getting wheeled out of the quarantined room in detail, so it hadn't been really that long ago. Everything seemed to be engraved to his mind in detail though. The barrel of the gun arcing toward his partner. Followed by one loud crack tearing through the air. The bullet drilling a hole through Danny's chest. Danny tumbling forward. Blood trickling out of the gunshot wound. Steve himself trying to stem the blood flow.

From the moment the shooter pulled the trigger Steve had tried to keep his friend alive and stable. He had tried to keep him from dying, he even cut into his friend's chest to do so and yet the second he dared to believe everything might turn out okay, Danny had been taken away. The worst part, the doctor had stopped Steve and told him he wasn't allowed to go with his friend. If Steve had to describe the horrible feeling he experienced at that moment, it would've come close to having his heart ripped out of his chest. Now hours later Steve was reunited with his partner, and it was not near how he imagined it.

For the moment Danny was settled in the PACU, a large, partitioned room shared by many patients. Although the patient bays weren't spacious, there was just the right amount of space given for those who needed to awake from life-saving surgery. Life-saving surgery. Danny had required life-saving surgery. He had been put in a situation he'd never asked for. One he didn't deserve. One that for now would remain a mystery on how and why. Nonetheless, life handed it to him. Just like everything else life has to offer, good or bad, it comes when you least expect it.

According to the protocol of the PACU Steve had to be outfitted with a disposable blue gown upon entering. He did what was asked, and now that he was gowned up, he was finally given permission to see his partner again. He entered the PACU and followed the nurse up to the right patient bay. Steve dragged his hand down his face and swallowed the angst that washed over him. The nurse walked away, leaving Steve alone with his partner. The minute they took Danny up to surgery Steve wanted nothing more than to see his friend again. Right now he wished he never ever had to see Danny like this again. Because seeing the, usually funny and the little overdramatic, but within his rights, man, so still and helpless it made Steve feel frightened.

Standing at the end of the bed Steve tried to look at his friend. Really at him and not at all the medical equipment that practically drowned him. Easier said than done when multiple bags were hanging from both sides of his partner's bed; blood, supplements, medication. Not to mention all the tubes and equipment that were connected to his body; an IV line, chest tube, heart monitor leads, oxygen mask, blood pressure cuff. Even the things Steve couldn't name, it was all there to help Danny conquer his fight. If all of that wasn't already cruel enough, Danny lay bare-chested in bed. Although a light blue blanket concealed him from the waist down, there was no gown covering up his torso. Probably efficient for the nurse, but definitely more brutal for Steve to look at.

He went from pacing to leaning on the bed, to sitting down and standing up again. He repeated this a multiple times before he finally sat down in the chair and let out a deep breath. The time went by terribly slow, and it felt like an eternity to Steve, when in reality just 40 minutes past by since he had joined his partner at his bedside.

There might've been just a handful of times when Steve had seen his friend fragile and every single one of those times he could tell Danny wasn't someone who would give up on life. This time life had literally given up on him, and somehow he managed to kick life in the butt. At the moment he didn't look like someone who kicked ass, or maybe he did. Wounded and tired from the fight that was thrown at him. He had coded during the surgery. Still, he fought his way back to the life that punished him for no reason at all, and he faced all that like a tough guy. One who would never give up. Yet he'd never looked so fragile as right now.

Steve had pretended he didn't hear Danny say it, but earlier that day when Steve suggested they roll him over to see the damage done by the bullet, Danny said that he was scared. Hearing him say those words out loud, the cold air had seeped through Steve's skin and chilled him to the bone. For the time being he had ignored Danny because if Steve would've said he was scared too, he would've given his brain permission to shut down. And if so, he wouldn't have been able to help his friend like he had. Luckily Danny had found the strength too and let it be a miracle that his brain didn't shut down either. Maybe Steve had pushed him by saying they were going to get him up on the table. Perhaps he did, or maybe he didn't, but not even a second later Danny intended on getting up himself even when he apparently couldn't. Right then and right now he proved that he wasn't done here. Despite the fact that he seemed fragile, he wasn't done with life.

With the heart monitor beeping steadily, Steve's eyes followed the machine's colorful leads that were attached to his partner's chest. For no reason, Steve counted them. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Standard amount, but they had different colors than the machine he had used in the quarantine room. There were a whole bunch of things different this time. For instance, the seal for the bullet wound he'd made from a trauma dressing and tape. It was replaced by a narrowed pillow of a milky white bandaged and taped right below Danny's collarbone. The other bandage was quite larger and covered the chest tube inserted in the incision, the one freshly cut by Steve earlier that day.

Steve was able to see past all of it and to find his partner within. Well, he found someone, but the man barely appeared to be Steve's friend. He swallowed hard and placed his hand on his partner's arm. "Hey buddy, you're gonna be okay, you hear me?" He whispered. He needed a hint, a glimpse of prove that despite how he looked, Danny was still his same friend. That he was still the one friend whom Steve liked to call his brother and the one that feels like family.

Feeling a little overwhelmed Steve looked the other way, to the nurses' station. He took his hand off his friend's arm and rubbed the back of his own neck. The stress from that day washed over him like a giant wave crashing onto the rocks. His body ached, and he was getting tired. Fighting hard against the exhaustion he focused on the clock hanging on the wall. Steve had been waiting for hours now. Still, he was all alone, no sign of his friend gaining consciousness. The silence was maddening. It was never silent if he were with his partner and Steve had grown to love that. Thinking he couldn't take the silence any longer a soft moan caught his attention. Danny was waking up. Steve leaned in closer and placed his hand on his friend's bare shoulder. "Danny?"

Danny sucked in a deep breath and grunted doing so. His grunt sounded painful, and it probably was as his left hand went up to the side of his chest. The rhythm of the heart monitor spiked a little, but not to a level of concern. Blinking a few times, he slowly opened his eyes. Danny's baby blue eyes were clouded in sheer pain and confusion. With his right hand, he snatched the oxygen mask down to his chest. Pressing his left hand tighter on his chest, he pushed himself up with his right arm. First Steve thought he might be trying to be more comfortable or something, but no Danny was trying to get up and off the bed.

The slight movement caused a small crimson stain to enlarge through the bright white bandage covering the bullet wound. "Hey hey hey, Danny, easy you're in the hospital." Steve gently pushed Danny back against the pillow. Danny allowed him to do so, but the confusion in his eyes grew stronger. Leaning back again his tense body loosened up a little, like he gained a little more control on the situation.

Steve sat down again. "All right, that's it. You okay?" He asked, putting his hand back on Danny's arm.

"Whr's" Danny muttered something under his breath, making it inaudible to Steve.

He leaned forward, trying to make some sense out of Danny's mumbling. "What'd you say?"

Danny spoke a little louder this time. "Where's St-Steve?"

"Buddy, I'm right here."

Danny rolled his head to the side. Their eyes locked, but Danny stared lost at him. He frowned confused, and his eyes were darting. For Steve, the baby blues looked so familiar and yet not any recognition sparked within those eyes. They were left blank. Empty. No acknowledgment. Nothing. Steve was a stranger to him, at least that was how Danny looked at him. Confused by pain or the fact that an Outlander was sitting next to him, Steve didn't know what caused it.

"Danny? It's me. Steve." The knot in his stomach recoiled with every twist and turn of his mind. Danny really didn't seem to know him. He didn't seem to recognize Steve.

Danny was trying to say something in return, but he coughed instead. Both his hands shot up to his chest possibly wanting to relieve any pain. Steadying his breathing Danny inhaled deep, only it sounded like someone was suffocating him. A small and shallow breath was all he could take. Panic transformed his face, and with short bursts, he gasped for air. Steve placed the oxygen mask back, covering Danny's mouth and nose. The additional air seemed to improve his breathing because his body slumped in a relaxing way. Breathing wouldn't even be something to think about while doing, but looking at Danny, the little trifle wiped him out. His eyes slipped shut again and took him back into the darkness.

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Well that's it for today.** **I'll post chapter two in a few days.** **Love to hear what you guys think so far.**

 **Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy the holidays!**


	3. Chapter Two

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - THE FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: First of all, a very special thanks to all the lovely reviews! It's great to read you all are enjoying the story! Second, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas?! Here's chapter two, enjoy reading!**

 **CHAPTER TWO**

 **07:35 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - PACU - SURGICAL FLOOR**

After Danny had closed his eyes again, Steve was left with more questions than ever before. There was no logical explanation on why Danny would act like he didn't know him. Despite Steve's strong belief that this was just the remnants of the anesthetics wearing off, his gut was telling him the truth. Danny really didn't recognize him. How and why? Steve couldn't tell. He had been waiting hours for Danny to wake up, waiting to have the insurance that everything would turn out all right. Now that he finally did wake up, Steve wished the wait would've taken a little longer.

Feeling heavy hearted Steve had distanced himself by standing at the other side of the room. He kept the green curtain open to keep an all-time watch, but he really could use some space. Which was a difficult thing considering he remained in the PACU. However, he found a quiet spot and leaned with his back against the wall. From here he could observe his partner as he was standing not more than six feet away. Danny was sound asleep, the only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest. Steve sighed, long and weary. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore his exhausted mind.

His thoughts were interrupted as Dr. Keller entered the PACU. They silently greeted each other with a firm nod as the doctor went up to Danny and started checking the blood flow of the transfusion. He adjusted something on the machine before he focused on the patient. He took the stethoscope out of the pocket of his white lab coat and placed it onto Danny's chest. Steve waited for the doctor to finish the exam.

After listening attentively to the heart and both lungs, Doctor Keller slung the stethoscope around his neck and turned to Steve. "His breathing has quite improved."

"Really?" Steve was relieved by the update. He walked back to the bed and leaned with both hands on the backboard. "He didn't sound like it when he woke up."

The doctor checked the chest tube drainage system hanging on the bed, but low to the ground. "I would've been surprised if he didn't have some difficulty breathing considering his condition."

"Yeah, you might be right," Steve agreed. He pointed at Danny's chest. "The-the bullet wound started bleeding after he moved around. It's normal to have some after bleed, right?"

"It's common, but let me check it and change the bandage." The doctor reassured. He grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on. With care he peeled off the dressing, exposing the bullet wound to fresh air. Keller tossed the bandage along with the gloves in the trash. He replaced his gloves and prepped a clean squared dressing. The entire time Steve's eyes were focused on his friend's chest. The bullet wound was small, yet it had done extensive damage. The wound was somewhat ragged around the edges, and the stitched skin was covered with congealed blood. Steve knew that the exit wound was on Danny's back somewhere. Although he hadn't seen it himself as he had asked Junior to look at the wound, back in the quarantine.

The doctor finished replacing the bandage. He typed something on the chart before he faced Steve again. "All right, I'm going to take him for some scans. See if we can remove the chest tube."

"Already?" Steve raised his eyebrows. "That's great."

"Commander, this is going to take a while, so why don't you go home," Dr. Keller suggested. "You have been locked up for six days, it'll do you good."

"So has Danny. He's not leaving, nor am I." Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"There's a difference, he's not allowed to leave, but you are. I'm serious when I say this is going to take some time. At least an hour or two, maybe even three. So go take a shower, catch some sleep. If I remember correct, you all were complaining about the food back in quarantine. Therefore more important, grab a good meal. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" The doctor tried hard to convince Steve.

Keller was talking to the wrong person in that case, because once Steve made up his mind, it was set in stone. "If it'll take two hours, then I'll be back in two."

 **09:37 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - PACU - SURGICAL FLOOR**

When Steve left, he went by Danny's place to grab some personal belongings and clean clothes. On the drive over to his own place, he called Lou and Eric, to give an update on Danny's condition. Steve decided to leave behind the part where Danny didn't seem to recognize him. He was doing all right considering all things. Both men were pleased with Steve's phone call, and they would come to visit Danny first thing in the morning.

Coming home, Steve went straight to the bathroom to take a refreshing shower. Turning the temperature to its lowest, he tried to wash the exhaustion away. The cold water was cascading down his body, depriving his skin of sensation. The numbness calmed him and took his mind off things. For some people, water might be frightening, but to Steve water made him feel peaceful. He turned off the shower as the cold trickled down his spine. He grabbed a soft white towel and wrapped it around his waist. Water kept dripping down, but he didn't care. With his body still wet from the shower, he stepped out of the bathroom, and he collapsed exhausted on his bed.

After 50 minutes of sleep, his preset alarm went off, cutting his power nap short. He quickly grabbed the first clean clothing items he could find. For now, a grey, vintage washed, cargo trousers and a casual navy blue button down would do. He put them on, shoved his cell phone in his pocket and hurried downstairs. Steve snatched his car keys from the side table and went outside. Closing the door behind him, he realized he forgot something. He went back in and took the black gym bag, standing on the comfortable leather chair in his living room, with him. Thinking twice if he didn't forget anything else, Steve jogged over to his Silverado. He climbed in, tossed the bag on his passengers' seat and roared onto the freeway. Just like he had said, Steve showed up at the hospital two hours later.

Entering the hospital, the commander checked at the front desk if Danny had been brought back to the PACU yet. To Steve's surprise, they had moved Danny to a private room on the surgical floor. Being pretty relieved about the progress his partner was making in such a short time, Steve retraced his steps back to the fourth floor. Finding the right room, he knocked once on the open white oak wooden door. Just as he expected, there was no response from inside, but he set foot into the room anyway. Gazing around he noticed it was much more spacious than the PACU. The room was painted in a shade of pink. And just like the walls, the rest of the interior existed out of ton sur ton colored furniture. Steve always figured pink ex- and interiors were a Hawaiian thing.

He didn't expect Danny to be awake all of a sudden, only considering his setting changed, Steve had hoped to see his friend more lively. Observing his partner, everything looked exactly the same, well minus a few machines and monitors. Danny was still hooked up to the IV and blood transfusion. The heart monitor continued detecting his heart rate, and the oxygen mask was strapped on his face. Every time Danny exhaled, moisture appeared inside the mask. Watching him breathe calmed Steve. It meant his friend was alive. Being a little skeptical about him waking up again, Steve pulled up a chair nonetheless.

 **09:04 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL FLOOR - ROOM 406**

Due blood loss Danny had been drifting in and out consciousness. His mind had swirled in the land of hallucinatory dreams, oblivious to the physical world. Hopping from one dream to another, the occurring series of thoughts and images, made it feel like reality to him. All the dreams made somehow sense and were possible future events, so since they weren't the most absurd situations, it basically could've happened. Only not any of them did. From the minute Danny passed out in the quarantine room he had been in this delusional state. But right now, the reality was slowly making itself known again, and he was leaving the artificial world behind.

After hours of complete darkness, Danny was waking up. His mind was steadily rebooting, and his thoughts floated back to the last thing he could recall. Living the good life. Watching the sunset. Enjoying the golden years and spending his free time with his best friend. Bickering with each other like no one else could. Moments like that put a smile on his face. He hadn't always been a big fan of the beach life, but after years he managed to see the delight in it. Trying to smell the salty sea air, Danny inhaled deep. Breathing in, the fleeting moment ended abruptly when pain rattled through his chest. Every muscle tensed and ached, especially on his right side.

Even though the pain on the right side was definitely his primary concern, his upper chest hurt too much to ignore. Like there was something heavy on top of him, making it hard to inhale. Carefully touching his chest with his hands, he tried to push the heavyweight away, but there was nothing on him. He searched for it, causing his hands to get tangled with something that felt like wires. Freeing his hands, he noticed that the wires were stuck onto his chest.

Danny tried to make some sense out all of this because wires, in general, weren't heavy enough to cause such pressure on his chest. Not being any closer to what caused it, Danny endeavored to open his eyes. He blinked, closed his eyes, and blinked again. The petite bar of white light that showed trying so encouraged to keep his eyes closed. Failing to open his eyes, his other senses kicked in to figure out where he might be. Regular high pitched beeping sound. Cold surface. Stark smell of antiseptics. His throat bone dry. Almost choking on his own saliva as he tried to swallow. Pain through his entire body. He was in the hospital.

His mind was still a surging perplexity. He couldn't be in the hospital. Himself and Steve had been sitting in the chairs by the water; talking about his granddaughter joining the police academy. He was not supposed to be in here. The pulling needles underneath his skin. The cold tingling air tickling through his nose. The mask strapped onto his face. All that told him he was no longer enjoying the golden years. For all, he'd know he could be dying. Was he dying? Better question. Where had his friend gone?

Danny slid the mask upward, pulling it off his face. "Steve?"

"Yeah, I'm right here." A low voice popped up, smooth and pleasant yet, vibrating with power and command. It was a voice with authority. A voice he recognized instantly. Steve.

Adjusting to the light, Danny's eyes were slowly coming to focus. He glanced around the room, searching for some familiarity. With his head turned to the right he noticed a silhouette next to him. Concentrating, the silhouette shaped into a person. The man sitting beside him looked like someone familiar, but it couldn't be. He seemed so unlike from the guy he knew. It had to be him though.

Danny scanned Steve from top to bottom. "What'd you do? You look different." His voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper.

"I did a buzz cut, remember?" Steve rubbed his hand over his trimmed hair.

Danny focused on the hair cut. That wasn't the thing that appeared to be different about his friend. He was quite younger, like years ago. "You're supposed to be gray and old. Is it me or did you just seem much older last time I saw you." His speech slurred by exhaustion.

Steve snorted. "Thanks, Buddy. I'm flattered. Couldn't you have said I looked younger though? Would've been more positive."

Danny attempted sitting up, but a roar of pain reverberated throughout his chest. He grunted, shut his eyes, and waited for the pain to subside. "First, I'm not a positive person. Second, then I would be lying because you're old. We're retired, so it's okay to be ancient." He grumbled with his eyes closed.

"I know you wished you were, but we aren't retired yet," Steve stated, sounding sincere.

Danny's eyes flung back open. He didn't understand. Was Steve messing around? He seemed to be incredibly serious though. "No, we're. We opened the restaurant, right? It's booming. The place is crowded." Danny argued against. Doing, so two concerned cool gray eyes gazed at him.

"Buddy, Steve's is still under construction, I mean I'm sure it'll be crowded one day, but for now we still have to find someone who can help us out with the electrical plan," Steve leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "Listen, I think you have imagined stuff."

Imagining stuff? Now that was really funny. Danny would laugh only his chest hurt too much. There was no way he imagined things. They had yet another full house at the restaurant, it was crowded with people who were enjoying their food. Dog and Beth would come at 9:30. He could almost taste the Polenta Crostini, which needed a little more garlic for his taste. But Freddy would add some, just a little though. Besides Steve actually liked it and they were going to put it on the menu.

How could Steve say Danny all imagined that? He could clearly remember them standing in the kitchen, arguing about a news fragment of a cop who got shot and killed. He even had asked Steve if they knew the guy and coming to think of it, he had answered. 'What'd you mean, Danny? That's you, buddy.' Steve's voice echoed through Danny's mind. It wasn't him though right? It couldn't have been him, because he was still alive. Confusion clouded his features. "What'd you mean?"

"Yesterday you mentioned Charlie graduating and right now you're saying we were retired, but we're not, nor did we open the restaurant," Steve explained.

Danny's eyebrows furrowed even deeper. "He didn't graduate?"

"He didn't," Steve seemed dumbfounded. "Danny, it's 2018, Charlie's only five years old."

"No, he was wearing the uniform and all," Danny beamed proudly. He was sure of it. Steve was fooling him. "You were there too, you putz. Taking pictures with your goofy phone." His friend was taking advantage of the situation. Although Danny couldn't tell what situation. He couldn't quite remember why he was in the hospital, only that it hurt like hell.

Steve's forehead scrunched up, turning into an aneurysm face. "Danny, you got shot in the chest," worry must have dawned on Danny's face because Steve immediately started reassuring. "Hey, you're fine, you had surgery, and they fixed you. But you've lost a lot of blood, man. Maybe you're a bit confused due to blood loss or still a little hazy from the anesthetics."

Images rushed through Danny's mind of him standing in the kitchen of their restaurant as well as when he was talking with Adam. Both conversations ended with him staring or pointing at a gushing gunshot wound. Danny looked down at his bare chest, which he hadn't done yet. His eyes landed on two large white bandages covering the right side of his torso, the reality came crashing in hard. Besides the bandages, many circular stickers were applied onto his chest as well. The wires lead to the heart monitor standing next to his bed. His eyes were fixed on the machine, watching a green wave dash on the screen.

Danny's left hand went up and touched the white squared bandage. He groaned as excruciating pain startled his body. He had no longer any doubt. Steve was telling the truth. He got shot. Past and present blurred together. The man, a stranger to him, stood in front of him. His finger curled around the trigger. Then he fired his gun right at Danny. A loud crack tore through the air. The bullet pierced his chest, burning through his skin. Being paralyzed by the pain, he tumbled forward and crashed onto the cold floor.

Danny swallowed the lump in his throat. Moments from the day before flashed by, merging with the dreams he had. Dazed by all the information, his eyes darted around, trying to stem the questions that ran through his head. There were too many, but he could conclude one thing for now. "I got shot."

Saying it out loud, a shock went through Danny and he relived the bullet penetrating his chest. His heart rate picked up, making the rhythmically beeps coming off the machine go faster and louder. Danny pressed his hand on the bullet hole, thinking putting some pressure on the wound might bring some relief. Bad decision. A blood stain directly emerged through the bandage.

"Easy! Easy! It's okay," Steve pulled Danny's hand off his chest and rested it back on the bed. He held onto Steve's hand and squeezed hard. The wound hurt too much to even think about letting go. Danny's heart was hammering in his chest but eventually slowed down as the pain subsided. Calming down he let go of his friend's hand, Steve smiled caring at him. "All right, let's go back a bit. We're in quarantine remember?"

The isolating room. The virus. Danny spent six days of his life locked up in that room and yet he didn't think of it until Steve mentioned it. Danny felt stupid he forgot it in the first place, so he acted like he didn't. "Of course I remember, how could I forget being cooped with you for days?" Piece by piece things seemed to come back to him. "That-that guy, in the hazmat suit? He shot me, right?"

"He did," Steve nodded, taking a sip of the to-go coffee standing on the side table. "He's dead. He shot himself in the head, so don't work yourself up about it."

Danny peered at his friend before letting his head fall slowly on the pillow. His memory was blurred, the past like a fading dream. No longer able to recall every detail and there was nothing to prove if any of it was real. "I-I just remember that it was hard to breathe, too much pressure and all."

"Yeah, the bullet punctured your lung, causing a tension pneumothorax," Steve elaborated before his eyes turned all sorrowful. "Scariest half hour of my life I guess."

Danny didn't answer; instead, their eyes locked with each other. Saying without a word, that they both had been scared. Danny was touched Steve said such a thing, but he couldn't let him get away with it that easily. "Wait, did you just share your feelings? I think history has been made." He mocked.

Steve snorted and rolled with his eyes. "I'm glad you're back to your old self again. Wished it would've taken a little longer though. I liked the confused version of you."

"Yeah right," Danny smiled and waved it away. With them bickering it almost felt like everything was back to normal. Except it wasn't, because he was in the hospital with a gaping hole in his chest. Danny stared at the white tag around his right wrist. He was still in King's Medical Center. The same place he'd been for the last week due to the virus. He'd been talking to Steve for a while now, and until this moment he hadn't fully noticed they were no longer in the isolation room. Danny sighed, he was tired of his brain being this slow. He was done waiting around for his mind to catch up, so he started seeking answers. "How did we get out of the quarantine? Are we cleared?"

"We're all good, no sign of the virus," Steve confirmed. "They cleared us yesterday after they took you straight to the O.R."

"You sure? I can't remember being checked." Danny wondered.

Steve leaned back in his chair. "You passed out long before that."

"I passed out?" Danny sounded astonished. Going in and out consciousness was one thing, but completely passing out, was a whole other thing.

Steve gave a half-smile. "Yeah, and believe me, it was a good thing that you did."

"Why? What'd you do?" Danny asked deadpanned.

Steve stared straight at Danny. "Who says it's something I did?"

"Buddy, you're famously known for your adventures lifestyle. I don't need to be conscious to know you do stupid things." Danny teased, giving Steve a lopsided grin.

"Stupid?" Steve hunched forward. "Okay, I'm gonna need a few witnesses in here before I tell you, 'cause otherwise you won't believe me."

At the moment Danny would believe anything anyone would tell him. He was eager for some answers as he yesterday clearly had lost the battle of staying conscious many times. His brain had fooled him and made him believe those hallucinations were real. Despite that fact, the dreams were fading. They were slowly getting replaced by fragments of words and distorted images of the shooting. The line between reality and his dreams was still thin though. Making it hard to trust his own gut.

"Grace she-um, she didn't get married, did she?" Danny pulled the blue blanket higher up, he was getting cold.

Danny detected a certain level of excitement as Steve raised his eyebrows. "Grace? Married? No, but she will one day."

Danny bobbed his head. Somehow he was disappointed, but at the same time, he was glad she didn't. Grace was his little girl, and he didn't think he would ever be ready to walk her down the aisle. "Kono and Adam? They had a baby or?" He no longer thought it happened, yet he wasn't entirely sure of it.

"A baby?" Steve snorted. "Sounds to me you had a lot more fun while passing out then we did."

"Well it might sound like it, but I rather have not been shot though," Danny straightened his back, his body felt rigid. "Are Tani and Junior all right? Did we traumatize the kids?"

"They're fine. Speaking of, are you feeling up for some visitors?" Steve pulled his cell phone out of his side pocket. "Everybody has been waiting for you to wake up from your beauty sleep. They're sitting downstairs."

"It's not an actual question if they're already here, you know that, right?" Danny contended. He was actually exhausted by this mind-twisting conversation, but he couldn't say no either.

It was like Steve read his thoughts. "Listen, they'll understand if you're tired. They don't mind coming another time."

"No, go get them," Danny insisted. "I wanna know what you did, and you're not telling me without them." He stared daring at Steve.

Steve was about to answer as a young female nurse entered the room. "Hi there, it's good to see that you're awake, Detective." She seemed compassionate with her dark brown curls dancing around her face. Holding a sealed packaged she walked over to the monitors standing next to the bed. Checking the heart monitor, she lay down the sealed hospital gown on the bed. Danny let the nurse do her thing. He didn't even bother to keep his eyes open anymore, he was too damn tired.

Steve probably understood his cue because Danny could hear his partner getting up from his seat. "I'll be right back," Danny listened to the footsteps fading, but then they stopped. Steve must have been almost at the door when he turned back around. "Oh, Danny?" He paused, likely waiting for Danny to look at him, but Danny didn't. He was simply too exhausted. Steve figured as well because he continued. "Grace and Charlie are on a flight back home, they'll be here soon." Danny's eyes shot straight back open hearing his kids names.

Danny's whole face lit up, his eyes twinkling with excitement to see his children. "You called Rachel?"

"No, you have Eric to thank for that," Steve admitted. "but, um, I promised you that you would get to see them real soon and I intend to keep that promise."

Brightened by the news, Danny stared gratefully at his partner. "Thanks, buddy."

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: After hours of research I know it's medically not the right call to take the chest tube out a few hours after placement. But according to the episode the chest tube was no longer in place when everyone came to visit. It didn't say whether everyone came a week later or the next day, but I personally think they visited Danny the first chance they had.**

 **The next chapter will be uploaded in the weekend! Love to hear what you guys think so far.**


	4. Chapter Three

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - THE FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Okay, I realize that it might be a slow start, but as the episode brought on a lot of tension, I decided to relieve that first before it takes a turn for the worse. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!**

 **CHAPTER THREE**

 **09:32 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Exiting Danny's room, Steve stepped aside to let a patient and doctor through. To his surprise, there were a lot more doctors, nurses and several patients that shuffled through the narrowed corridor. The hustle was not in any way comparable to the serenity of a few hours ago. Because during the night Steve had counted four people walking past the door; a doctor, two nurses and the janitor. Maybe he had missed a few when he finally had fallen asleep, but there couldn't have been much more than four.

Later on, when the sunlight had filtered in through the window, Steve decided to grab a cup of coffee. He had spent the night crammed up in a chair, so it was time to stretch his legs anyway. Danny had been asleep for almost the entire time. Except for a few short grunts, coughs and gasps. Getting up Steve had briefly squeezed his partners arm. Danny's arm stiffened in response to the pressure, but other than that he hadn't acknowledged the action.

At the crack of dawn, Steve had entered the hallway. The hospital had slowly come to life again. Nurses changed shifts, breakfast carts were loaded up, and doctor's started doing their rounds. Watching them work Steve had come to realize it was a new day. The lack of sleep was probably messing with his head because if the sun came up, it usually meant it was a new day. Frankly, he was in desperate need of coffee, so Steve quickly provided himself with a black coffee to-go from the cart downstairs. The second he got his coffee Steve headed back to his partner's hospital room. Not that Danny would notice if Steve would be away for a few minutes, but he wanted to be by his side in case his friend might wake up.

Coming out of the elevator, Steve had received a text from Eric. They all were back at the hospital. Except for Jerry, he was back at the office, following Steve's lead. The commander promised once more to let Eric know if anything happened. Putting his phone in his side pocket, Steve walked back to the room. Going in Danny was stirring in his sleep; his hands searching his bare chest. Steve had been surprised by this much activity, so he rushed back to the single chair next to the bed. Although he was excited to see his friend wake up, Steve's conscious kindly reminded him how last time turned out.

With his eyes still closed Danny had pulled the mask off. "Steve?" His voice had been hoarse and barely harder than a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm right here." Steve had moved in on the sudden movement. Being startled by the voice, Danny had turned his head toward Steve and slowly opened his eyes. Steve's heart had been pounding in his chest, nervous about how his friend was going to react. Danny had scrunched his eyes at the bright light, but seconds later his mouth quirked up in a half smile. The recognition and look of relief almost wrecked Steve, but it meant everything to him.

The following quizzical conversation was at least to say, confusing. Even so, Steve was pleased they had straightened things out, and everything seemed to make sense to Danny again. The past seven days had been a rollercoaster. First the virus, the quarantine and now the shooting. Steve couldn't believe it yet, but things were optimistically going the right way.

Standing in the crowded hallway, Steve tried to take as minimal space as possible. He leaned against the wall while he scrolled through his recent calls. As his mind had wandered off to the events of this morning, Steve forgot to contact the team. Keeping his promise, he called Eric. Doing so Steve quickly glanced back inside the room. The nurse was still with Danny, so they should wait another ten minutes before coming to visit.

Just as Steve ended the call, the nurse left Danny's room, taking all kind of equipment with her. Curious to know, Steve put his cellphone back in his pocket and went back in. Danny lay with his eyes closed, which was no surprise to Steve. Making a change, he sat down in one of the chairs by the window. He had been sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed since he entered yesterday, but now that the nurse had taken away some equipment there was more space.

His partner opened his eyes as Steve took place in the chair. "Hey, I called, they'll be here any minute," Steve announced as he observed his friend. Danny was wearing a light blue hospital gown, with a somehow happy pattern. It looked good on him and most of all, Steve didn't have to stare at the bandages any longer. Not only was he wearing a gown, but the blood transfusion was also removed from the crook of Danny's arm. The oxygen mask had been replaced by a nasal cannula which regardless of everything else spiked Steve's level of concern because it meant his partner couldn't do without the supportive oxygen.

"Charlie and Grace too?" Danny asked with a little spark of hope in his eyes.

Steve didn't mean to be a buzzkill, but he couldn't magically let the kids appear either. "No, not yet, buddy. They took the first flight back, which was this morning. I think they'll come by this afternoon." Saying so, the spark died, making the baby blues glassy and tired again.

"All right." Danny sucked in a deep breath before he dislodged the nasal cannula tubing from behind his ears and from underneath his nose. He tossed the tube behind his pillow. Apparently, it was too far out of reach because Danny winced and his left arm wedged tight to his side as he stretched.

"Okay, okay, tough guy," Steve jumped in, lending a hand. He took the thin, flexible plastic tube and slung it over of the oxygen flow meter connected to the wall. "You really think they will mind seeing you like this?" Steve referred to the nasal cannula.

"No, but I do mind." Danny blinked, fighting the exhaustion.

Steve crossed his arms and stared worried at his friend. Dark circles were settling underneath his eyes, and the healthy color on his cheeks had disappeared. "Fine, but do you think it's such a good idea to ignore the doctor's orders?" He pointed to the oxygen flow meter.

"Says the guy who should have been doing some light weight training the first six months post-op; instead you jumped out of an airplane." Danny snapped annoyed.

Did he really have to bring that up? Steve sighed irritated. "Would you rather have jumped out of that plane all by yourself?"

"I wouldn't even have been on that plane if it were up to me." Danny let out a little huff. It was meant to be a laugh, but it seemed like he didn't have the energy for it. Danny shifted in bed, letting out a gasp for air. He seriously could use the supportive oxygen, but Steve could tell he was way too stubborn to admit that. The pain reflected hard in Danny's eyes, making Steve guilty he took part in the argument.

"That's what I thought," he quickly ended the quarrel and placed his hand on his partner's shoulder. Two baby blues eyes stared exhausted at him. "I'm serious, Danny. Maybe you should rest up before having some visitors around."

Having that said, the entire cavalry arrived. Along with their chatter, they came bursting in with a couple of balloons, flowers, and cards too. Danny looked up at Steve. "Too late."

 **09:39 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

The Five-0 Task Force along with Eric, Adam, Kamekona, and Flippa filled the hospital room. They all greeted Danny with a handshake, except for Tani, she gave him a gentle hug. Kamekona pulled up a chair, while the others remained standing. Steve and Junior made themselves useful by tying the balloons onto objects standing in the room. Tani provided the flowers with water and displayed the cards on the side table standing between the two chairs near the window.

Lou handed Steve's gun and badge, which he happily secured onto his right hip. After they had been rescued from the boat, the hospital had confiscated all their personal belongings. Entering the quarantine ward they were allowed to bring some items along, like their cell phones and such, but the less, the better. Lou had taken care of their weapons and gear until this point. Sitting down next to Danny, Lou briefly put his hand on Danny's arm. "I've put yours in the safe back at the palace."

Danny rolled his head to the left side. "Thanks, buddy." He was too damn tired to even lift his head off the pillow. He really appreciated they all came by, it gave him a little more energy to see his friends. However, breathing became a more challenging task with every breath he took. The pain surged deep within his chest, still stinging and burning. He couldn't completely ignore it, but luckily there were a bunch of people to distract him from the pain.

Tani made herself comfortable sitting on the bed in the opposite direction of Danny. "Did he tell you yet what he has done?" She jerked her head in the direction of Steve.

Junior crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah, he performed some kind of procedure on you."

Tani peered annoyed aside at her coworker. "Way to bury the lead, Jun's."

Danny glanced at his partner in amazement. "Explain something, if you did such thing, how come that I'm still alive?" He mustered a smile, though it probably resembled a grimace. Nobody seemed to mind as they all chuckled and laughed. It was contagious because Danny smirked as well. He regretted it instantly, as the pain made itself known again. Before Steve would mention something, and he was good at doing that, Danny continued the conversation. "What did he do? He did what?" He asked his visitors with a fading smile. Danny briefly closed his eyes while he waited for an explanation. He didn't need to have his eyes open to know Steve was concerned about him, so to please his partner Danny blinked in between.

Junior shifted from one foot to the other. "I think it's called a finger thora…" he went blank, not remembering the rest of the term.

Tani completed it for him. "…costomy."

"That's right," Steve acknowledged. "I cracked your chest open, wiggled my finger around inside there," he simulated by wiggling his left index finger. "And, uh, stopped your heart from getting crushed," he shrugged. "But… you know, no big deal." Steve gloated, crossing his arms again.

Adam lifted both eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm sure it was nothing." He mentioned sarcastically.

Lou went straight for the truth. "No, brother, it was disgusting." His honesty and facial expression created a broad smile on Adam's face, and the others laughed as well.

Danny gazed at Tani. "Did he wash his hands at least?" He nagged, and it worked because Steve shook his head with disbelief.

Tani humorously tried to divert the question. "You know, time was really of the essence."

Danny concluded what Tani was trying to say. "He didn't wash his hands." The Hawaiian beauty wobbled no with her head.

Just like Danny expected Steve took the bait. "You're such a baby," he bantered. "You gonna be a baby about this?"

Danny raised his eyebrows indignantly. "I'm a baby?"

Steve hunched forward, resting one hand on the bed rail. "Here, let me tell you something. The fact is if I didn't put my finger inside of you. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now, you know?" His cell phone rang, so he fished it out of his pocket, but didn't answer it yet.

Disgust transformed Eric's face. "Wow. Thanks for that image."

Danny let it slide, he was too exhausted to keep arguing. He shifted, trying to sit more comfortable. His chest had started aching from all the talking. He knew it didn't do him any good, but that didn't stop him. Everyone here had taken the time to come by, so he certainly wasn't going to be the guy to blow off the visit. He scrunched up his face as he inhaled a little too deep.

Danny didn't think anyone noticed though, but unfortunately, Steve did. He jerked his head, pointing to the nasal cannula hanging on the wall. "Don't be stubborn just use it."

Danny waved it away. "Go answer your call, animal."

Steve smiled teasing and left the room to answer his call. He didn't go far enough, because Danny could eavesdrop on the conversation "Hey, Jerry, go ahead."

Junior distracted him from hearing anything else. "Sir, are you feeling all right? No pain?"

"I guess the meds are doing a tremendous job." Danny lied, forcing a smile.

Tani glanced at him with her eyes narrowed. She knew he was lying. "So no discomfort or anything?"

She gave Danny no choice other than telling the truth. It wasn't in his nature to lie but to say something witty, was his true character. "You nuts? Haven't you seen those hands? They're humongous, like a gorilla. He put one of those giant fingers inside my chest and poked around. How'd you think I would feel?"

They started laughing, including Danny. Before Tani answered, she waited for everyone to catch their breaths again. She needed to wait a little longer for Danny though. "I have to say, when he cut you open, I honestly thought this was it. But I think those giant fingers, saved your life."

Steve came rushing back in. "Guys, we've to go. Jerry found a lead."

The team stood up, ready to go. Danny was really curious to know what kind of lead Steve was talking about, but he would ask another time. For now, the biggest struggle was to stay awake. Danny jerked his eyes back open each time they closed. He knew that the moment he would allow them to remain closed, he would fall straight asleep. Steve probably noticed because he gave him a way out without him having to ask for it. "Listen, how about we all go? Give Danny some time to rest." The group agreed with the request.

"Take it easy, brother." Lou held out his fist, and Danny bumped against it. The rest followed and said their goodbyes to Danny. The Task Force cleared out in no time, the rest of the visitor casually left one by one. Danny noticed Eric had been quite almost the entire time. Which was very unlike him. The boy was the last one to walk out of the room, so Danny called him back. "Eric?"

Eric turned back around. "Uncle D, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing-nothing. Don't worry so much, you're just like your mother," Danny stared at his nephew. He recognized the guilty facial expression instantly. "Oh god, you called her, didn't you?"

Eric stepped closer while apologizing. "I did, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have."

"No, it's fine as long as you also called to let her know that I'm all right." Danny waved off the inevitable. He couldn't be mad at the boy, besides he merely didn't have the energy for it.

"Yeah, of course, I called her back. She told me to give you a kiss on the cheek, but I think I'm too old to do such a thing." A silly smile appeared on Eric's face.

Danny's eyes widened. "You think?" He couldn't help himself, Danny snorted with laughter as Eric's goofy smile hadn't changed since boyhood. A cheeky little boy, who always tried to brighten up your day, making jokes and sometimes stupid decisions. The sweet memory ended abruptly as Danny's ribs protested against the movement of laughing. A painful grunt escaped from his mouth, and he pressed his head deeper onto his pillow.

Eric's smiling eyes instantly turned into a concerned glance. "Should I get you a doctor or something?"

Danny couldn't give him an immediate answer, so without waiting, Eric turned around to get help. Just in time, Danny grabbed the kid by his arm, stopping him from leaving. "I'm fine, you putz."

"You sure?" Eric checked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Danny confirmed and let go of his nephew's arm. He really couldn't say why, but the boy seemed different. Scared even. Danny really tried to treat and respect the kid as an adult, only deep down Eric was still at the beginning of his long life. He probably never had to deal with such horrible news, and for certain he never had been alone. He moved from his cocoon in New Jersey, to Honolulu. Always had the safe feeling and protection family gives. Danny didn't want to think this way, but if he hadn't made it, Eric would've been all alone, no family left around. It was visibly this situation was hard on him, and it probably made him more mature. Danny had been waiting years for that, only it was never his intention to do that this way. "Eric, I'm sorry you had to go through all this. Steve told me you called Rachel too. I'm Sorry I put you in the position to make such a tough phone call."

Eric started rambling and talking wildly with his hands. Danny guessed it was in the blood. "Uncle D, I know it wasn't my place to call, but I just thought you might want to see Grace and Charlie, so I called. I'm sorry I did."

"No-No Eric, thank you. I do want to see them, really bad, so I'm glad you called." Danny really appreciated the way Eric handled the situation.

"You don't have to thank me. I should be the one thanking you." Eric sounded sentimental, raising Danny's concern.

"Come again?" Danny stared confused at his nephew. Eric didn't look back, he let his eyes down and focused on the floor. Something was bothering him. He obviously needed to get it off his chest. Danny waited patiently for him to start.

Eric scratched the back of his head. "Remember, when you first moved here, you used to call us back in Jersey like...two or three times a week. Just calling to check in on us. You know, you were worried the whole family would fall apart. I guess we kind of did a little. Nobody more than me though, man, 'cause I was just some dumb kid back in Jersey, making dumb choices, and… you were the one who set me straight. You were the one that… brought me up here and talked some sense into me and… got me my job," Eric swallowed hard. "Honestly I don't know what I'd do without you. You… kind of saved my life, you know? I just... I never had a chance to thank you for everything you did for me."

Danny was completely overwhelmed, but at the same time, he felt incredibly proud of the boy. Coming to think of it, he never had said that to him. It was not the way they communicated, they usually make fun of each other. Like old times Danny made a joke. "Did you get hit on your head?"

Eric stayed all serious though. He kept pouring his heart out. "No, I was just worried I'd never see you again and now that I do… thank you, Uncle D."

Danny couldn't stay behind. It was his time to share. "All right. Okay, I clearly scared the crap out of you. Get over here and give me a hug. We can still do that, right?" He pushed himself up to sit straight, even when pain rolled through his chest.

Eric shrugged his shoulders, and to Danny's reassurance, the boy smiled again. "I guess so."

"Good," Danny opened his arms and Eric gave him a hug. Danny patted him on the back. "I'm proud of you, buddy."

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and I always love hearing what you think of it!**

 **MAHALO**


	5. Chapter Four

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! May it be filled with joy and laughter! Lots of amazing episodes of five-0 and inspiration for great fanfics :)**

 **Mahalo for the lovely reviews, the favs, follows and messages. You guys are truly the greatest. Also, the guests who are reviewing, thank you for your kind words! Mahalo for your support.**

 **If there are still some grammar or spelling issues left, they're all mine.**

 **CHAPTER FOUR**

 **10:13 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Danny had been awake for less than an hour, but the conversation and the short visit drained all his energy. During the visit, he had been fighting to keep his eyes open, but now that everyone left he didn't seem to catch his rest. Apparently being beyond tired didn't matter as the only thing he could think of was the predominant discomfort in his chest.

Each time he inhaled his ribs would send a shock wave of pain through his body. Danny wished the misery would stop, but with every breath, his rib cage endured movement. Of course it was natural for his ribs to expand while taking a breath, but for now, it felt against nature to let the slightest amount of air enter his chest. Luckily as Danny had been left alone by Eric, a nurse had come in and given Danny something to relieve the discomfort. He was glad he could finally close his eyes and hopefully drift to a place where pain wouldn't be present.

With the pain no longer bothering him Danny tried to relax. He shifted, sighed and thought about the most boring things in life to help him drift back to sleep, but he was still awake. He was sure some time had passed, only even though he was exhausted, he couldn't get himself to fall asleep. Every damn time he closed his eyes, his hearing sharpened and a mixture of sounds would keep him from his much-needed rest. With his eyes still closed Danny huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to ignore all the noises.

It didn't help much though, the phone from the nurses' station wouldn't stop ringing. Actually, the ringing alone was already bugging him let alone the names and codes that were constantly pronounced over the PA. Or the chatter that was coming from the hallway every time people passed his hospital room. Most of the fuss came from outside his room, but inside his room, the clock on the wall was ticking like a bomb. There also was this electrical buzz, probably coming from the lights. Getting worked up about all the sounds Danny opened his eyes again. He immediately frowned and squinted as he was blinded by the bright Hawaiian sunlight that flooded his room.

Danny turned his head to the door as the number one thing that annoyed him the most entered his room. Nurse Leia. Danny knew she was just doing her job, but she had come by twice already, taking samples from whatever she was ordered to take. Once she finished up Danny kindly asked her to close the door on her way out. Nurse Leia obeyed his request, and with the door closed the sounds and voices outside the room became indistinctly. Serenity washed over him, and the exhaustion took over. Danny rested his head on the soft pillow, closed his eyes and within seconds he drifted asleep on the ticking rhythm of the clock.

 **10:13 AM MOTEL ROOM JOSHUA HOLLISTER - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU**

With great force, Lou Grover kicked in the door of the motel room. On the call earlier Jerry had informed Steve on the location where the gunman aka Joshua Hollister possibly had stayed. Now that the door was kicked open Steve entered first with his gun aimed; ready for whoever was in there. He went left, securing the room, while Tani came in second and went straight ahead to search the rest of the room. As there didn't seem to be a threat, Steve stopped and observed the room. It wasn't spacious or fancy. There was a kingsize bed standing in the room, a basic kitchenette in the back and to his imagination, a small bathroom as Tani didn't even need to go inside to check it out.

After checking the kitchen and bathroom, Tani shouted they were in the clear. She lowered her weapon as she turned around and locked her eyes on the dinner table. "Commander?"

Curious to know what she had found Steve made his way over to the other side of the room. Tani stood near the table for two that was placed against the wall. Closing in Steve noticed the picture displayed on the table. As he collected the photo his heartbeat picked up its pace and before he could process what he saw, his heart pounded heavily in his chest. He was staring at a picture of Danny with his phone to his ear. Steve never had seen this particular shot before, besides it was taken from just a few feet away, meaning the gunman had been stalking them. He had been near them before.

Reading the bold capitalized written words his stomach turned. HE DESERVED TO DIE. The words repeated themselves in Steve's head. Sickened by the realization that his partner actually should've been dead, Steve tossed the picture back on the table. He put both his hands on his hips and turned away. He had let the gunman slip through his fingers and probably not just once. The picture seemed to have been taken near a crime scene, which frustrated Steve immensely. The gunman had been within his reach, so theoretically he could've prevented all of this. His partner could've been at home right now instead of lying in a hospital. He didn't recognize the gunman, and yet the man seemed to know all about them. Steve could feel the anger boiling inside of him.

"Have CSU tear this place down," Steve signaled around the room. "I want prints, DNA or anything that will bring me closer in finding out who this guy was." Even though the gunman had failed in his execution to kill Danny the attempt still could be more than just a one-man job. Right now Danny lay all alone. No protection if someone would show up and way too vulnerable to protect himself. Without any notice, Steve stormed out of the place.

"Steve? Hey, where you going?" Lou called out, but Steve didn't let it stop him. He had to bring his partner to safety.

 **10:38 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Danny's nap was cut short as he woke up by a couple of people arguing outside his room. The Doctor's order was to rest, but that seemed impossible as long as he would be in the hospital. He turned his head to the clock to check the time. Great, he might've slept for ten minutes tops. His sleep was interrupted once again. The sound should've been muted by the closed door, but the voices were clearly raised because he could hear the disagreement loud and clear. Danny rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He noticed the additional oxygen tingling through his nose, meaning nurse Leia had strapped the nasal cannula back in place. He didn't mind, he actually could take deeper breaths without being in agonizing pain. However, the pain was back and present.

Along with it, he felt rigid and chilly by laying still. He rolled his shoulders to loosen the knotted muscles in his body. Pulling the blanket over his chest Danny listened in to the argument.

A determined male was leading the disputation. "No, you heard me right. Let's go."

Her voice sounded compassionated as the woman tried to argue against. "Sir, we can't just move," but she was curtly cut off.

"We can, all right. I want him moved immediately." Danny frowned confused. Were they talking about him? With a loud bang, the door slammed open against the wall.

Startled by the sudden intrusion Danny tensed and jerked upright. "Whoa-whoa, what's going on?" His eyes darted around as his partner barged into the room. The day shift nurse had followed and stood confound in the door opening. She placed her hands disagreeing on her hips. There was nothing she could've done to prevent Steve from storming in though. If that man wanted something to be done, he would move mountains to get there.

Danny leaned back and stared perplexed at his friend. Steve was still fully outfitted in his tactical gear. A little overdressed in Danny's opinion, because in just a few seconds Steve could've taken his gloves, vest or tight holster off. Apparently, his partner was in a hurry. Danny's assumption was confirmed as Steve didn't even greet Danny upon entering. Instead, Steve opened the door of the pink closet, pulled Danny's gym bag out and dropped it on the bed near his feet.

"We're moving you to another room," Steve stated, still not paying any attention to Danny.

"Why? Why do I have to move?" Danny questioned as the 'Get Well Soon' cards were handed to him. Not that Steve answered the question, instead he raged through the room, like a tornado at its top speed, grabbing all Danny's personal belongings.

Leia, the day shift nurse, took a device looking a lot like a cellphone out of her pocket. "Let me page Dr. Keller to discuss the transfer. He needs to sign off on the paperwork; otherwise, we can't move Detective Williams at all."

Steve stopped packing and stared gravely at the Hawaiian nurse. "Listen, I'm not gonna wait. Either you help me, or I'm gonna do it alone."

"Sir, like I said before, I'm not authorized to do such a thing," Leia explained.

"All right, you see this?" Steve ripped his name tag off his kevlar vest and held it up in front of the nurse's face. "Herby I'm authorizing you to help me move my partner." The nurse finally complied and went up to the heart monitor to prepare it for transfer. Satisfied, Steve secured the tag back onto his vest.

"Steve? Hey, I'm sitting right over here. Don't you think I have a say in whatever is going on?" Danny urged while sitting more upright to have a conversation. Although he was rigid with pain, he was curious to know what the answer would be. "Talk to me."

Steve didn't stop nor did he look at Danny. Instead, Steve untied the balloons from the side table and secured them onto the railing of the hospital bed. "I want you transported, Danny. I'm not here to argue about it. It's for your own safety, not because I want you to."

Danny was completely lost. "Transported for my own safety? What the hell is going on?" his partner didn't answer. He went on with packing. Danny watched the nurse disconnect the electrodes on his chest. Steve was almost done grabbing everything in the room so the chance of getting some answers would be right about now. Danny cleared his throat. "Look for the past eight years I've been hoping that one day you would learn to use your mind before you would punch someone or run your mouth," it took a lot more energy to rant than Danny anticipated, but it didn't stop him. "My hopes get crushed every day you know. Including right now. And do you know why? Because this is a situation where you speak first instead of using that-that no sharing plans, private brain of yours."

It worked. Steve turned around and stared straight-faced, close to being annoyed, at Danny. "Really? You wanna add more flattering compliments before I crush another of your wishes?"

"No, I don't," Danny stated breathlessly. "What I do want though is for you to just for once, share your thinking. Why or where am I transported to?"

Having packed all Danny's personal stuff, Steve leaned on the end of the bed. "You're being moved to a secured ward."

Danny's gaze narrowed and his jaw dropped. "Excuse me, a secured ward?"

Leia finished prepping Danny for the transfer. "I'll be right back. I'm going to grab a tablet at the nurses' station to update my patient's chart." She excused herself as she left the room.

"Steve, what's going on?" Danny tiredly leaned his head back against the pillow.

Steve unlocked the brakes of the hospital bed. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

When Steve pulled the bed just an inch, Lou and Tani came rushing in. Both wearing their tactical gear as well. Danny figured Steve probably didn't tell them where he was heading; otherwise, they would've arrived at the same time. Steve had nowhere to go as Lou and Tani stood in the middle of the room, blocking the exit.

Danny got curious as he noticed that Grover was holding a piece of paper sealed inside a transparent evidence bag. Before he could ask, Lou tried to settle the situation. "Let's just all relax. That photo could mean anything, so let's calm down and figure out what that guy wanted."

"It's pretty clear to me what he wanted," Steve locked the brakes of the bed. "Listen, Lou, I'm not going to risk Danny's life while we keep hitting walls. We don't know a thing about this guy. There's a chance he's part of a bigger scheme, right? I'm not taking that chance. Would you? I mean look at this place, anyone can walk right in, at any time. It's not safe."

Tani made a reasoned response instead of Lou. "If he managed to get into an isolated wing why move Danny up to one?" she let the revelation hang in the air for a moment. "Why don't we start with finding any reason to suspect he's working with somebody or maybe hired by someone or whatever? Right now we don't know anything yet."

"She has a point," Lou remarked. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We can have HPD guard the place until we know for sure what we're dealing with. Unless you feel safer in a room in a secured ward?" He wondered, valuing Danny's opinion.

"Last time didn't turn out so well for me, so I'm fine with staying right where I am," Danny requested. "Besides if he wanted to kill me, he would've pointed his gun to my head."

Danny didn't know why, but Steve looked away and down at the floor. He probably needed a moment to think as he eventually agreed with Lou. "All right, fine. Let's have HPD send over four officers. Two at the entrance of this floor and two at the door of this room. I'll stay until they arrive."

"Sounds good to me," Lou agreed. "I'll send HPD a list of cleared medical personnel," he pointed at Tani. "In the meantime, we'll go back to the palace, check out everything we can find on this guy. I'll let forensics analyze the photo, maybe they find something."

"What photo? Let me see that." Danny jerked his head and extended his hand waiting for Lou to give the evidence bag.

Lou stepped closer toward Danny, but Steve put his hand on Lou's chest to forestall him from stepping forward. "Don't," Steve ordered, eyeing warningly at the captain. "Don't give it to him."

Danny desperately let his hand drop back on the bed. "You've got to be kidding me."

The tall man stared down at the commander in charge. "Steve, I mean no disrespect, but I think it's his right to see it. He's gonna see the picture sooner or later anyway," he removed the commander's hand off his chest and stepped aside. He went up to Danny and handed over the photo. "We found this at the gunman's motel room."

Before looking at the evidence, Danny watched Steve's reaction. He obviously didn't want him to see the picture. Whatever what was on it, it must've upset Steve. He sighed. Placed his hands on his hips, turned to the window and stared outside. Danny drew a breath and looked down at the photo. It was a picture of himself while having a phone conversation with God knows who. He swallowed hard as he read the bold black capitalized words that were marked on the top. **HE DESERVED TO DIE.**

"At least he took a photo of my good side." Danny joked, trying to brighten the mood.

"Danny." Steve sounded remorseful.

"What? It says it right here, doesn't it?" Danny slapped on the text written on the photo. "In his eyes, I might have deserved it, but I didn't die. So forget the fuss about this guy. He's dead. I'm not." Ending his sentence sharp pain lanced through his ribcage as if karma had been lurking around for him to say he wasn't dead.

With the pain being unbearable Danny almost wished he did. On top of it, a string of harsh coughs rattled his chest, leaving him weaker than he had thought possible. The breaths he took were entirely too fast and shallow to be normal. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped a handful of white hospital sheets, pleading for the agonizing pain to stop. A warm hand touched his shoulder and squeezed gently. Opening his eyes again Danny stared at the reassuring smile of Tani.

Steve held on to his vest, fingers tucked around the collar, as he glanced worriedly at Danny. "All right, enough about it. You okay? You don't look so good to me."

A wheeze escaped his lips as Danny tried to reassure everyone. "I'm fine- I'm fine."

"Just stop talking for a minute, okay?" Steve instructed, and Danny reluctantly did as he was told.

He was glad to hear that Lou respected his unspoken wish to catch some rest. "Tani and I'll head back to the office. We'll have HPD send over a couple of officers."

Danny handed Tani back the evidential photo. "Hey, please don't give this photo to Eric. Let someone else analyze it."

"We'll take care of that, but you sure you're okay, Danny?" Tani asked, her eyes tight and worried.

No, he was not okay. Like he would ever tell anybody. Steve maybe, but Danny wasn't about to burden anyone else with his misery. His chest was racked with pain. His lungs were slowly giving out on him. His mind was shocked by the picture. But no he would never admit that. Instead of admitting, he did the usual, he made a sarcastic comment. "That's what? The third time you guys asked me that? How horrible do I look?"

There was a slightly mischievous look on Tani's face. "On a scale from one to ten, I'd say eleven."

Lou glared aside. "You should've lied," he smiled, with his eyes too. "Enough about it, we're gonna let the two of you alone," Lou grabbed Tani by her shoulders and turned her towards the door. Lou looked over his shoulder. "Please try to behave; the both of you."

Danny waited until the team members left the room. "Eleven, right. Well, at least she's honest with me," he snorted, then winced as the pain in his chest began to make itself known again. "Dammit," Danny gritted his teeth. "Getting shot shouldn't hurt this much, right? You would know."

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "I'd never had a punctured lung though and besides every GSW is different, you know that," he stepped closer to the bed. "It could be my fault though. I mean it was pretty brutal to push that clamp inside your chest," Steve admitted as his eye's turned all sorrowful. "Or when I pressed on your chest to relieve the air pressure that had been building up."

Danny didn't remember Steve doing any of that, but he knew one thing for sure. It was not his partner's fault. "It's not your fault. I wouldn't be here without you, remember?"

"Don't worry, I remember." Steve mouth curved into a comforting smile, but it was a smile with a whole lot of hurt behind it.

Taking a deep breath before Danny could make a comment, pain riffed through his chest. The oxygen that steadily flowed into his nose seemed to have no supporting effect. Danny collapsed on the pillow with his eyes tight shut. He waited for the pressure to subside, but with every inhale the pain flared up.

His eyes shot back open as nurse Leia entered. "Are you in pain, Detective?"

"It's my chest, or my ribs, I don't know. Feels like someone's sitting on top of my chest."

"Well, it's normal to feel pressure after CPR, it's nothing permanent. Should go away once the bruising fades."

The explanation felt like someone slapped him in the face with a flat hand. His heart had stopped? He swallowed hard as he tried to process what the nurse just said. Danny looked up at his partner who didn't seem shocked by the news. Instead, Steve's eyes flicked guilty between the people in the room. He seemed to be the only one with the answers. Apparently, Danny missed a lot while being unconscious and usually his partner would loop him in. Only today Steve tried to protect him from what really had happened.

"I'll go page Dr. Keller see if he can come to check it out," Leia reassured and left the room.

"CPR? Steve? What's she talking about?" Danny rambled, talking wildly with his hands. Suddenly he realized why Steve acted this calm. "You knew?" Danny narrowed his eyes out of disbelieve. "Why didn't you say something to me?"

Steve rested his hands on his hips. "I did know, but what was I supposed to say to you? I mean it's not something you just announce."

Steve was right. Danny didn't even want to think about how he'd feel if the roles would've been reversed. Realizing Steve might have been the one that performed the CPR, Danny swallowed the horrifying thought. "Did you?"

"No-no, it happened during surgery, so Dr. K did," Steve pulled up a chair next to Danny. "Really trust me when I say I thought the doc already told you."

"Obviously he didn't tell me," Danny didn't know if he wanted to hear the answer, but he asked anyway. "How long before I, you know?"

"I'm not sure, he said it didn't take them long," Steve leaned back in the chair. "Hey, apparently it's common with tension pneumothorax, so don't feel heartbroken."

"Really?" Danny raised his eyebrows in response to Steve's sarcastic choice of words. "I would laugh only it hurts too much." Danny rolled his eyes as he let everything sink in. Suddenly it all made sense why his chest hurt like it did, but for now, Danny didn't know what hurt more. His chest or him knowing he came closer to death than he initially thought.

"Buddy, I'm sorry. You all right?" Steve asked as he squeezed Danny's shoulder in sympathy.

Danny forced a smile to comfort the anxious gray eyes staring at him. "Tired, that's all."

Steve snatched the remote control of the side table and flicked the TV on. "Here, you should watch a mind-numbing soap opera."

"I'm sure that if you keep talking, your boring voice will put me to sleep." Danny mocked.

Unannounced a young man wearing blue scrubs walked in. He smiled as he pushed an empty wheelchair forward. "I'm here to take Detective Williams up to radiology."

Danny hadn't seen the man before and nor did anyone inform him that he needed to go up to radiology. With suspicion, Steve checked in with his partner. "Do you know about any of this?" Danny shook his head negative. Steve stood up from his chair and slowly moved his right hand to the gun in his thigh holster. "Would you mind showing your medical ID, please," he asked pointing at the card clipped on the man's scrub top.

"Sure." The man stated calm, but instead of reaching for his medical ID he reached with his right hand behind his back.

"Hey, hands where I can see them," Steve directly pulled his gun out of his holster and aimed at the young man. "Do it right now!"

 **-HAWAIIFVE0-**

 **A/N: Well that's it, sorry for the cliffhanger. I promise there's much more to come...**

 **Always love to hear what you're thinking of it! Thank you for reading!**


	6. Chapter Five part one

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Here we go again! Chapter number 5! I'm amazed by the reviews, favs, follows and messages! I truly love seeing that you guys like it so much!** **Also, the guests who are reviewing, thank you for your kind words!**

 **If there are still some grammar or spelling issues left, they're all mine.**

 **CHAPTER FIVE | PART ONE**

 **10:46 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Panic dawned immediately on the orderly's face. "Oh god, please don't shoot." He held up both hands and doing so he let his cellphone drop out of his right hand.

"Really? Your cellphone?" Steve lowered his gun but kept his eyes locked on the young man.

"I-I was just trying to show you the appointment confirmation," the orderly explained picking up his phone off the floor. Looking back up he stared with anxious eyes at Steve. "Did you really wanted to shoot me?"

"No, he didn't," Danny flicked his eyes judgmental at Steve as he probably didn't want things to escalate. He focused back on the orderly again. "Just show him your ID, and everything will be all right."

With shaking hands, the orderly gave the ID card to Steve, which he accepted and checked thoroughly. As the nurse entered the man practically stated begging. "Leia, please tell this guy I'm just doing my job."

Steve guessed the nurse was done with Steve's attitude as she placed her hands on her hips. "Commander, I don't know what's happening, but Luke here will bring Detective Williams to radiology. The X-ray is ordered by Dr. Keller."

"Great, let's go then." Steve agreed.

 **10:48 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER**

Steve watched his friend closely as he got out of bed. Earlier Danny already showed signs of exhaustion, let alone right now. He was sitting bleary-eyed on the edge of his bed. Dark circles had settled underneath his eyes. He seemed pale, sweaty and all his energy seemed to be completely drained out of him. On top of it, he sighed, which sounded resigned and weary. It worried Steve to see his partner like this. This morning Danny appeared to be in much better shape than at this moment. Maybe earlier today had been an illusion or a subdued desire.

The orderly couldn't place the wheelchair close to the bed. It merely was too small on the left side to push one through. Instead, the wheelchair stood at the end of the bed. Usually, not a big deal, but Steve doubted if Danny even could get up from the bed. He hadn't been out of bed, at least not to Steve's knowledge. To his surprise, Danny grabbed the IV stand showing the intention of getting up.

"Should he even be getting out of bed?" Steve murmured at the orderly.

"Doctor's order." The young man stated as he triple checked the time on the cellphone he was holding. It annoyed the hell out of Steve that the guy was waiting impatiently like he had more important things to do. Steve was pretty much used to being annoyed, like during arguments, car rides or casual conversations. Most of them which he shared with his partner. He had come to accept that level of annoyance over the years, but only because it was his friend he was annoyed about. The impatient orderly on the other hand was someone he could not tolerate.

And unlike the orderly, it went against Steve's nature to just stand around and do nothing. He desperately wanted to jump in and help his friend. Except he knew how frustrating it could be if someone would help with such a simple task as standing up. Two pair of eyes staring at him must already be annoying enough for Danny.

Danny placed both his feet on the ground and pulled himself up. He steadied by holding the IV with one hand and with the other hand he held tight onto the bed. Arising Danny let go of the bed, but as he straightened his body, he flinched. His free hand pressed tight to his right side and pain transformed his face. He swayed on his feet, leaning with his entire weight on the support of the IV stand.

Steve's heart dropped. It really bothered him to see his friend hurt. "Buddy, take your time."

Danny made no reply, but a pleading glance was all that Steve needed. He went over to his friend and gently hoisted him up by his arm. Danny grunted in pain but accepted the support. With Steve's guidance, they shuffled toward the wheelchair. Danny's breaths were labored. With each step, they took the gasps grew longer and deeper. His eyes were wider than a deer caught in a trap. Standing in front of the wheelchair, Steve helped Danny turn around so he could sit down.

He dropped tiredly into the chair. "Argh." He grunted and pained tears were burning in his eyes. Steve didn't mention it; instead he squeezed comforting in his friend's shoulder.

The orderly barely waited for Danny to sit down, because the minute he did, Luke released the brakes and turned the wheelchair toward the hallway. Steve rushed after them, pushing the IV stand. Rolling through the hall, Danny relaxed. His breathing calmed, and Steve assumed the pain subsided as Danny let go of his chest. The hallway was crowded, so Steve walked behind Danny instead of next to him.

Danny glanced over his right shoulder. "Did you apologize to her?"

"Apologize? To who?" Steve questioned looking down at his partner.

"Tani," Danny announced. "You yelled that she needed to figure a way out, to get help back at the quarantine. Now that was a little unfair, don't you think so?" They stopped in front of the elevator.

Steve frowned, he barely recalled the incident. He had no idea where this was coming from, but he was amazed his partner actually remembered the situation. Because when Steve shouted that Tani needed to figure it out, Danny lay bleeding on the floor. "She managed to find a way, didn't she? I think it's part of her training." Steve pushed the button for the elevator to come.

Danny turned around in his seat. "Now you're talking about training? She's on the team you know that right? She has a badge and all that."

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Steve acknowledged. The doors of the elevator opened and the orderly pushed the wheelchair ahead. Steve followed along with the IV stand. He leaned against the sidewall facing his partner.

"How about when you handed her a gun a second after meeting her? You didn't think she needed training back then now did you?" Danny referred to the moment when they went after the escaped prisoner convicted of arson; Jason Duclair.

"Seriously?" Steve placed his hands on his hips and hunched forward with his shoulders. "You asked me to have a short conversation with her about it. I did what you asked. Besides, that was a completely different circumstance."

"All I'm saying is you might wanna go a little softer on the kid," Danny suggested, but doing so he started couching. He bent over as sharply as if he'd been punched in the stomach. At the end of each cough, there was a whistling sound like he was struggling to get enough air.

"All right, I'll consider it," Steve straightened, ready to help if needed. After a few more coughs his partner stopped. "You good?" He queried.

Danny nodded. He leaned back in the wheelchair as he slowed his breathing. Their eyes met, but he broke it off by closing his eyes for a brief moment. A few seconds later the elevator arrived at the pressed floor. They got out and continued their way to the radiology department. Danny didn't turn around this time when he spoke. He stared straight ahead. "Okay, what about Junior? When are we going to give him a badge? The boy deserves it, Steve. He earned it."

Steve agreed. "I was thinking the same. How about we make it official at the Christmas bash?"

"What Christmas bash?" Danny gazed curiously behind him.

"You know, the one me and Eddie are throwing." Steve happily explained.

"You and Eddie?" Danny sounded mocking. He raised his eyebrows out of astonishment. "Are the two of you planning on revealing an engagement?"

"What are you jealous or something?" Steve teased. He was glad to hear the familiar sarcastic tone in his partner's voice. Despite how he looked he didn't act like it, which reassured Steve a little.

"Me? Jealous?" Danny jabbed his finger on his chest. "Of what, a dog? No, unlike you, I actually prefer to have a woman lying in bed with me."

Out of annoyance, Steve stopped dead in his tracks. "Didn't you say you were tired?" The orderly kept moving, so Steve quickly pushed the IV stand forward before it would rip out of his friend's arm.

"I might have said that," Danny admitted while placing his left hand on the crook of his right arm. The needle probably pulled when Steve had stopped.

"Then shut up and save some energy," Steve bantered. They walked past the sign Radiology. A big automatic double door opened inwards, and the orderly pushed the wheelchair through. Steve was aware he told his friend to stop talking, but he actually couldn't handle the silence. "You're coming to the bash though, right?"

"Well, I hope I can be there. Christmas Eve is like what five days from today? Depends on how long they want to keep me." Danny sighed.

"Actually I wanted to celebrate it a day earlier, you know on the same day as the parade downtown," Steve patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't you worry, you'll be out of here in no time."

 **11:58 AM FIVE-0 HEADQUARTERS - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU - OAHU**

Steve parked his Silverado near the main entrance of the Five-0 headquarters. Killing the engine, he reached for the glove compartment. He grabbed his badge plus empty belt holster and got out of his car. Stepping out he pulled off his tactical gloves and vest. He tossed it on the back seat so he could take off his thigh holster. After he took it off, he replaced the holster with one he could clip onto his belt. Steve locked his car and went up to the building. He passed security and headed up with the elevator.

The feeling he should've stayed at the hospital grew stronger the closer he came to going back into the office. He couldn't tell why though. Danny was doing considerably all right. He was tired and had some discomfort, but that was all. After the X-ray had been taken they returned to Danny's room. He immediately had gone back to bed and almost fell straight asleep. Steve genuinely would've stayed, but Danny argued against and told Steve he should go back to the palace. He had spent the entire night, and most of the morning at the hospital, so he figured he wanted to go back to work and tear this case down until he found useful information. Only the second he left, it already felt wrong to leave his partner behind.

Steve didn't worry about Danny's safety though. Two HPD officers were guarding the entrance of the floor, and another two were standing at the door of his room. Steve had given them detailed instructions, and he made sure they would check every ID before someone was allowed to enter.

Now standing in the elevator at the palace, his conscious strongly reminded him his friend could use his rest, and it was a good choice he had come back to work. Truth to be told, it was eating him both ways. He really wanted to be there for his partner, but at the same time, he tried to find answers on why the gunman shot Danny.

Reaching the right floor, Steve got out of the elevator. He pushed the double glass door open and walked into the task force office. Junior, Lou, and Jerry were standing around the computer table. Going past the offices, Steve noticed Tani sitting behind her desk in her cubicle. Looking left, Steve stared into his partner's empty office. He stopped and swallowed hard. Emotions washed over him: sadness, worry, fear. It had been a close call, or that office would've stayed empty forever.

Junior interrupted Steve's horrible thoughts. "Commander?"

"Yes, Junior. What'd you guys have?" Steve inquired as he continued walking up to the surface table.

"Unfortunately not much." Junior leaned disappointed with both hands on the table.

Tani came out of her office and walked up to them. "Well, unlike you, I did find something," she teased Junior. "I went by the motel again, asked if they had any information on Joshua Hollister. Credit card. Copy of his passport, any personal info or maybe surveillance footage? Of course, they didn't," she paused melodramatically. Steve felt a but coming, and he was right. Tani went on. "But the lady was kind enough to tell me that this Joshua guy left his rental car at the motel. He paid extra cash so they would return it for him."

Steve put his hands on his hips and hunched forward. "Where's that car right now?" He questioned.

"The lady returned it this morning. It was rented from Akahai Car Rental." Tani revealed swiping a copy of the car rental receipt up to one of the screens standing in front of them.

"Please tell me they still have to clean it." Lou implored.

Tani smiled broadly. "They do. I asked them not to touch anything until we've checked it out."

"Good, call Eric to have him meet you there so he can process the car," Steve commanded.

"Copy that." Tani nodded firmly, grabbed her things and left the office.

Steve focused on his other team member. "Jerry, where are we on ID'ing this guy?"

While Jerry answered the question, he started typing, his fingers whizzing on the computer table. "Like you know, I checked the visitor's log of the quarantine unit. Now this Joshua Hollister doesn't exist. Because I made a list of all people named Joshua Hollister, but there's no match with the photo I pulled from the surveillance footage."

"What video footage?" Lou wondered. So did Steve because he didn't recall seeing any kind of video footage.

"The one from the hospital." Jerry swiped a photo from the table up to the screens. It was a screen capture taken from the video footage showing the gunman aka Joshua Hollister signing in at the front desk of King's Medical.

Junior studied the photo for a moment. "What about facial recognition?"

"It's still running, but so far nothing." Jerry shared.

Steve folded his arms while looking at the extra screens hanging behind the computer table. He frowned. "I mean I don't get it. Why would a guy without a record shoot Danny? It doesn't make any sense."

Jerry stared puzzled at the commander. "Who says he doesn't have a record?"

"There was no hit in CODIS on his prints, right? Same applies for facial recognition. The ballistics didn't come back to any open cases, nor did the serial number of the gun give us any information." Steve summarized the highlights, or in his opinion the lowlights, of this investigation.

"That's true," Jerry concurred. He did seem to have a theory though. "However it's possible his record hasn't been digitized. Not all criminal cases have been ordered to be digitized. If he got arrested years ago, his prints should be on paper tenprint cards, and it's doubtful anyone bothered to scan them into the system."

Lou stared confused at Jerry. "You're suggesting this guy shot Danny years after he might've been arrested. I get that some people hold grudges, but why wait so long?"

Junior shared his thoughts. "I don't know, but what do we do next? Ask HPD to release all their non-digitized criminal files?"

"The truth of the matter is that there's no central way to search the thousands of criminal indexes," Jerry looked at Steve. "Unless you want me to go through the time and expense of searching every county, parish, township, and city criminal index?"

"No, that would take forever. Besides Danny wasn't even on the island until eight years ago." Steve explained.

"Do we know if the guy's even local? I mean he rented a car and motel room for a few days. Maybe he's not even from around here." Lou suggested.

"Good thinking," Steve jabbed his finger at Lou. "Jerry, check his prints with TSA, maybe they have a match," he leaned on the device table and watched Jerry type. They were finally getting somewhere. "Junior, could you go by the crime lab see if they found anything on that picture from the motel?"

Junior gave a firm nod. "We'll do, Commander."

"So what do you want me to do?" Lou tucked his hands in his pockets.

"When you said Joshua Hollister might have been holding a grudge, it got me thinking. It's actually the only reason I can come up with why someone would shoot Danny. Only this guy's not in the system, so we didn't arrest or lock him up, right?" Steve questioned.

"That's right," Lou agreed. "Besides Danny didn't recognize the man, neither did you. So useless the both of you suffer from dementia, I don't think we've crossed paths personally with him."

"Me neither, so we're going to dig up our previous closed cases, maybe we can find a connection. And if there's no connection, we can rule out that Joshua Hollister is part of something bigger."

 **-TOBECONTINUED-**

 **A/N: Honestly, I had a hard time trying to _not_ crack this case. As we all know it takes a couple of more episodes before the team learns about the true identity of the gunman. I would've cracked this case in a couple of minutes, but hey where's the fun and angst in that, right? Well, I tried to do my best and make a credible case out of it, so don't blame me for getting creative :) **

**Thanks for reading, I really love the support and always love to hear what you think of it. Next chapter is already uploaded, hope you enjoyed it.**


	7. Chapter Five part two

**NA HALA A KA MAKUA - SINS OF THE FATHER**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Well let's continue shall we?...**

 **CHAPTER FIVE | PART TWO**

 **12:04 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Dr. Keller clipped his medical I.D back on the front pocket of his pale blue scrub top. Since his patient's room had been upgraded with two officers guarding the door, he needed to identify upon entering. He was used to it though and besides entering this room was way less invasive than going into the quarantine area. Since he worked at this worked at this hospital he had been to that ward once or twice, but never as much as the last few days.

Six days ago four people were brought into the quarantine room. People who he had come to know well during those days. Yesterday was supposed to be the day they were released from the quarantine unit, only it turned out entirely different than intended. Hearing Detective Williams had been shot in the chest was already horrible news, but not being able to go in due to a bomb on the door had made doctor Keller beyond frustrated.

Dr. Keller was blessed Commander McGarrett was with his patient. Because if needed he could talk him through any kind of procedure. Of course, it wasn't without risks, but it was a way better option than letting the man die. Although there was a complication during surgery, it was a successful one. His patient was on his way to make a full recovery.

Being cleared to enter the guarded room Dr. Keller read the update on his patient's chart.

"Doctor K." His patient greeted him as he entered.

Dr. Keller lowered the tablet. "Detective Williams, you're awake?" He walked up to the bed and studied his patient. The man seemed to even have less energy than the last time when Dr. Keller stopped by.

"You sound like it's a miracle, but I haven't slept longer than 20 minutes since this morning. The beeping machines, the buzzing light's, the intercom blaring names and codes and the damn phone keeps ringing. Don't forget the nurses that come by every 30 minutes, to steal my bodily fluids. Yes, I'm awake." Detective Williams snapped.

"And pretty much back to your old self again, I hear," Keller mocked. "Well, I was actually coming to see if we could get you out of bed and walk around for a bit, but I think it's better if you catch some sleep first," he gave the detective a brief, but compassionated smile. Focusing on the tablet he was holding, Dr. Keller scrolled down to search for the medical history in his patient's chart. Finding it, he quickly read up on the information and looked back to the detective. "If you want, I can give you something to help you sleep?"

"No, actually I-I don't want any meds," the detective signaled to his head. "They make my mind all fuzzy."

Doctor Keller fixed on his patient. "Detective, I would strongly recommend against that. You got shot in the chest, mass center. You need to rest and give your lung time to heal. Honestly, that's a painful recovery, so you really should consider taking your medication."

Danny rested his head on his pillow. "Tell me about it. Breathing already hurts."

"To reassure you, experiencing some sharp pain while breathing is to be expected," Keller grabbed the pulse oximetry. He attached the small clip to his patient's finger, to measure how much oxygen was moving through his bloodstream. "I heard the pressure on your chest is bothering you?"

The detective confirmed by giving a brief nod. "It feels more like you cracked one of my ribs with the compressions though."

The doctor swiped between a few files on the tablet. Finding the right scan, he showed it to his patient. "According to the scans we made afterward you have no fractured sternum or ribs. But it's possible two or more ribs are bruised though. Probably on your right side, right?" Doctor Keller explained while he untied the hospital gown.

Lowering the gown the bruise across his patient's chest showed. At first, the swelling had been a purple stain, right now a black and blue discoloration marked the chest. The doctor slipped on a glove and traces his fingers over the bruise. On top of the apparent bruising, he could feel some swelling around the ribs. The examination appeared to be painful as the detective grunted with each touch. Finishing up Dr. Keller closed the gown again. "Doesn't surprise me you know how it feels. Over the past couple of years, your medical record shows you have broken several ribs. Four on your left side and one on the right. I hope your line of work has something to do with that. Otherwise, I might incline abuse."

"Working with Steve comes pretty close to abuse," the detective teased. "A busted rib doesn't explain why I can't get much air in though." He levered himself more upright.

The complaint immediately raised red flags with Dr. Keller. "Do you have trouble breathing?" he asked concerned while he took the stethoscope out the pocket of his scrub trousers. He plugged the tips into his ears and gently slid the extremity underneath the hospital gown and on the patient's bare chest.

The doctor tried to listen to the breath sounds, but the detective continued talking. "Yeah, but you just said it's expected to feel some pressure, right?" A pair of blue questioning but tired eyes glared at him.

Dr. Keller didn't answer. Instead, he forced a caring smile. He helped the detective lean forward. "Detective, could you inhale slowly for me please," Keller asked while he moved his stethoscope over Danny's back. He inhaled slow and controlled. "Good, now take a deep breath followed by a cough." Detective Williams obeyed the request.

He didn't cough once though, the first cough was followed by a coughing spree. Dr. Keller kept listening attentively. There were pronounced crackles in the right and left lower lungs. Concerned by that he watched the statistics on the heart monitor. The oxygen sats were barely keeping above 90 percent. Earlier when he removed the chest tube, it had been 99 which was a normal and healthy reading. 90 percent, on the other hand, was worrisome.

The detective was awake, but there was a listless to him, and his chest heaved more quickly than it should bring in the air. Besides, his pale skin was grey. Dr. Keller sighed; pneumonia most likely. The doctor replaced the patient's nasal cannula for the face mask. It should give more support, and hopefully, the oxygen levels would increase to a healthy percentage.

"Something wrong?" Danny's voice was muted by the facial mask.

Out of compassion, Dr. Keller put his hand on the detective's shoulder. "I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but to be sure I'll draw some blood." It didn't surprise the doctor when the detective held out his arm a second after mentioning drawing blood. He clearly was familiar with the procedure. Usually, doctor Keller would've asked a nurse to draw some blood, only this time he actually could help his patient instead of standing behind a glass wall and instruct through an intercom.

Keller gathered the necessary equipment and tools to perform the blood draw and placed them on a tray within his reach. He sat down on the detective's left side. To prevent admixture of the infusion fluids, he couldn't take blood from the IV arm. And as the IV line was inserted in the crook of the right arm, the doctor had no other option than to try the left arm. Dr. Keller looked for a visible, good-sized vein and applied the tourniquet around Danny's upper arm. He cleaned the insertion site with an alcohol swab. Keller punctured the vein quickly, and the blood flowed into the tube. Having collected one tube of blood, the doctor replaced the evacuated tube for an empty one. He repeated this a couple of times until he had four tubes filled.

"Okay, that's it," doctor Keller loosened the tourniquet as the last amount of blood was drawn. Next, he removed the needle from his patient's arm and pressed down on the vessel with gauze. Keller applied a clean gauze and taped it secure over the puncture site. After pulling off his gloves, he trashed all the used equipment in the therefore destined containers. "Everything all right?"

The detective shivered and feebly rubbed his arms in an attempt to cease the unsettling chill. "Just a little bit cold."

"Here," Keller pulled the blanket up higher. This was just the beginning. The cough increased breathing, and a high pulse rate was already there. Next, a fever would break through. All kind of things Dr. Keller weren't hoping for. The doctor was glad he ordered an X-ray earlier, so all there was left to do was run the blood samples to confirm his suspicion. The results of the X-ray would be in soon, and he would study them immediately. "Try to rest. I'll be back soon with the results."

 **12:44 PM MCGARRETT'S OFFICE - FIVE-0 HEADQUARTERS - DOWNTOWN HONOLULU**

Steve had withdrawn himself to his office after the quick briefing earlier. All the other team members were executing their tasks. Except for Steve. He should've been going through old cases instead of answering seven days worth of e-mails. As if that weren't already enough, the second he had walked into his office, the governor called him. He couldn't exactly say he had other things to do, so he answered and stayed on the line longer than he intended. After the call, he went through the e-mails, replied to the most urgent and read up on all the information.

His cell phone rang, but Steve let it ring a few times as he was busy with his last reply after typing too many e-mails for one day. He quickly glanced at the caller ID before he answered. It was Eric, so he answered and put it on speaker, so he could continue tying. "Eric, are you still at the car rental?"

"Yes, but he wiped it down before he left it on the parking lot. No evidence that leads to him. No DNA. No prints. Nothing. Well, I did find fingerprints, only they were not a match with the shooter, my guess is they'll match with the motel lady. As for the long brown hair, it's probably from the motel lady too. Never have seen such a clean rental car in my entire life. You should've seen the car I rented when I first got here. It was like a dumping ground on wheels."

The boy's ramble caught Steve off guard. "What?" He asked confused while he spotted Lou walking over to the corner office.

"Nothing, forget about it. If you want I can compare the fingerprints and hair with the DNA from the motel lady. Tani and I are on our way over to collect a sample."

"Would appreciate that. Thanks, Eric," the commander hit the red button to disconnect the call. Lou politely knocked on the glass door. Steve waved invitingly at him, saying he should come in. The man entered, and Steve focused on the e-mail again. He briefly looked at his coworker as he took place in one of the leather chairs in front of Steve's desk. "Hey, did you find something?" Steve queried as he went on typing on his tablet.

Lou nodded slowly. "Bunch of things, but nothing useful." He gazed around the office like it was the first time he was in there.

A long silence followed. Steve took his eyes off his tablet and stared at the tall man sitting across from him. It didn't seem like Lou was going to say something until he got Steve's full attention. Confused about the situation Steve raised one eyebrow. "Everything all right?" He leaned back in his desk chair waiting to hear the reason why Lou came in.

Now that he had Steve's full attention Lou fixed his eyes on the commander. "How's Danny?" He asked with a certain level of concern in his voice.

Steve shrugged his shoulders, not precisely understanding where the concern was coming from. "He's fine. He had to get up for an X-ray earlier, but he's doing all right." He crossed his arms.

"Okay, so nothing you want to share with me?" Lou leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees. "About how he's really doing?"

"Are you worried about him?" Steve implied with a sarcastic undertone. He closed his tablet as he had the feeling he wouldn't be using it any time soon.

Lou raised his eyebrows as he leaned back in his seat again. "You think I'm worried? You should've seen your face back at the hospital. Worry was written all over it." He teased, brightening the mood a little.

"Well, yeah I mean I was worried. He's my partner and best friend." Steve admitted, being serious this time.

"And honestly the both of you are lucky to have such friendship," Lou began. "But let me tell you, your best friend's daughter spends most of her afternoons with my son. She comes over like two to three times a week for breakfast. Hell, I planned on asking Danny if his pancake skills were that bad that she has to come to my house for it."

"Oh, believe me, they're the worst thing you'll ever taste," Steve promised with disgust transforming his face.

Lou smiled before he turned serious again. "My point, Will was video chatting with Grace when I got the call yesterday. He made a stupid joke, and she laughed. Her laugh scattered through the house, filling our living room with pure joy. I had to walk away, because all I could think about was that, if Danny wouldn't make it, I probably never hear the same laugh ever again. It would take all her joy away. So no I was not worried. I was terrified."

"Lou, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Steve apologized as the genuine sadness in Lou's voice made Steve feel selfish. He had not thought about how it affected the team, not once.

"It's okay. I mean I'm not gonna act like I know what you guys have been through the last couple of days. But seeing you guys locked up. Or the thought of losing Danny? Not able to do a thing. Man, that was hard." Lou confessed.

Steve didn't think it came even close to the truth. Lou went above and beyond to find the antidote for the virus and yesterday he managed to free them out of a rigged quarantine unit. "Not able to do a thing? Buddy, you got us the antidote. You saved our lives on that boat and without you, we wouldn't have gotten out of that quarantine room."

Lou let out a small huff like it was nothing. "That's what any of us would've done. I'm just trying to say, you're not the only one that's worried about Danny."

"He's going to be okay, Lou. He has to be. Really, trust me when I say he's all right."

Lou held up both his hands. "Hey, if you say he's all right, then he's all right. I trust you, you know that, man."

Steve snorted. "Don't get me started about trust. You're beginning to sound like Danny."

They talked a bit more about the investigation, not coming any closer though. Lou left the office and went on with the search. Steve stared from his office across the open workspace at his partner's office. Lou's words really hit home for Steve. Maybe in his subconscious, Steve figured he was the one to go first. It never had come to mind he might lose Danny before he would go out himself. Not that he planned on going anytime soon or on the job. But being realistic about the situation, he did more life-risking stuff. Or in Danny's own words; insanely stupid things. However, Steve took those risks so Danny wouldn't have to make them.

Coming to think of it, Danny did have lots of close calls in which Steve feared for his friend's life. Only never did he think he would actually lose him. He always tried to stay positive and think of the best possible outcome. He was trained to think like that; otherwise, he never would've survived all he had been through. His mind simply knew that after a fist fight, the body heals. Bruises, broken bones, they recover. Flesh wounds heal. Even gunshot wounds do. Except when there were complications. Complications happen unexpected and worse than that. They sometimes couldn't be healed.

 **03:58 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Once again they were stuck with the investigation. Jerry had no luck with facial recognition. However, the TSA search came back positive. Joshua Hollister landed two weeks ago on the island. Only he traveled with a fake passport, so there was no real name to learn. Tani and Eric didn't find anything other than what Eric suspected. The hair and fingerprints belonged to the motel lady.

Junior had gone by the crime lab, but there was not much to tell either. The digital photo was printed on paper sold at basically every store. Just as the marker that was used to write the caption. So with his hope lost Steve headed back to the hospital. His hope wasn't lost forever though, with time they would figure out who the gunman really was, even if it was the last thing he did.

Arriving on the fourth floor, the Commander gave the officers guarding the entrance a firm nod and greeted them. He did the same with the officers standing at the door of Danny's room. Stumbling a few steps into the room, Steve stopped dead. His partner lay awfully quiet in bed with a wet cloth on his forehead. Steve could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He didn't expect to find Danny like this. He seemed tired when Steve left earlier, but right now his friend almost appeared worse than when he was in the PACU.

Steve swallowed before his throat closed by fear. Even with the oxygen mask strapped back on Danny's face, Steve could see the pain that flashed across his partner's features. The blanket had been pulled down to the waist, revealing a spare pillow snuggled against his right side. Dr. Keller was standing on the other side of the bed. He was checking Danny's lungs and heart with the stethoscope. Steve didn't need to be a genius to figure out something was wrong.

Seeing his friend like this made Steve feel completely unsettled. The doctor probably noticed the distress on Steve, because he smiled compassionated at him. Steve tried to return the smile, but his lips barely twitched. "Doc, what's going on? When I left earlier, he was fine." He anxiously asked the doctor before he even reached the side of the bed.

Doctor K. slung his stethoscope around his neck and sighed. His exhale was a kind of sigh that said things were wrong without actually saying it. "I know, but detective Williams has developed a lung infection."

"Lung infection? Like pneumonia?" Steve flicked a despairing glance up at the doctor.

"Unfortunately yes," Dr. Keller stated. "The chest X-ray showed a lung inflammation indicating the presence of pneumonia. We're running some blood tests to identify the type of organism that's causing pneumonia. It could be bacterial or viral, we don't know yet."

Steve ran his hand over his face and scratched his few day old beard. "How bad is it?"

"He spiked a post-op fever. His temperature is up to 102.8. Breaths are labored. Heart rate's high," the doctor shoved his hands in his white lab coat pocket. "So I'm afraid it's serious. For now, we're focusing on getting him through the night without any or additional complications."

"All right, so you're giving him antibiotics in the meantime?" Steve pointed at the new bag of fluids hanging on the IV stand.

"Yes, but I'm waiting for the results of the blood test to come back. It'll give me the specifics on the type of pneumonia and on the best treatment. If his symptoms deteriorate, I will recommend a different antibiotic. For now, it's mostly to suppress his fever, and along with the antibiotic cocktail we're pushing fever reducers, pain relievers and Zolpidem to help him sleep." Dr. Keller explained.

Pneumonia, it was not what Steve expected to hear when he parked his truck on the parking lot. Infection was not the end of the world though. Danny would fight his way through. He was strong and relatively healthy considering they fixed him, his lung was inflated again, and the previous virus had left his system. The pneumonia was not what bothered Steve, because deep down he knew Danny was going to be okay. What did bother him was that his partner had to fight because of him.

Steve had been the one that cut Danny's chest open without proper precaution. He wore gloves, but that was it. Steve had cut his friend open in a room where four people, with a deathly virus in their systems, lived for six long days. He had cut his friend open on a dinner table where they had been eating 15 minutes before the shooting. It was his fault. While he was to blame for all of this, Danny was the one to deal with the consequences.

The doctor finished the exam, but before he left the room, Steve called out. "Doc, did he get the infection because I cut him open in an unsterilized field?"

"It's impossible to tell. His immune system was low from the aggressive virus antidote. Add a gunshot wound, blood loss, field treatment, and trauma surgery it's hard to say when or where he'd got the infection," doctor Keller answered honestly. Despite hearing the reasonable truth, it was a possibility. So still worried, Steve leaned with his hands on the backboard of the bed. "Commander, we'll monitor him closely, and hopefully his body temperature returns to a safe level, which can take several hours though." The doctor tried to comfort.

Steve appreciated the comfort, so he forced a small smile on his face. "Thanks, Doctor K."

 **04:47 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Steve was staring at his sleeping partner, which to him felt like he had been doing for eternity. The question 'how did they end up here?' Wandered his mind, but stayed unanswered as Steve didn't know. However, he did know that he no longer believed in karma. Too many bad things happened to good people to even think karma was a thing.

Looking down at his folded hands, he sighed. It had been an incredibly long day, and it was not even over yet. Steve ran his hand over his tired face. He hadn't had a proper night of sleep since two days ago. And looking at his partner, Steve guessed he wouldn't sleep in his own bed tonight either.

It was his own choice not to leave his friend's bedside though. Besides he had slept in worse places and survived days without sleep. Back then the adrenaline was streaming through his veins, and right now he was sitting on a chair, waiting, so it was not really a comparable situation. He would be all right. It was Danny whom Steve actually was worried about. The results of the blood test had come back 30 minutes ago. Dr. Keller had prescribed a different antibiotic cocktail, but Danny seemed paler than ever before. His skin glistened, and he was breathing slowly, his chest barely going up and down. Perhaps Danny's chest hurt too much to take deep breaths, so that's why he tried to do it as less as possible.

Lost in his thoughts, Steve startled straight up as Grace and Charlie entered the room. They stopped a few feet after walking in. Grace turned Charlie quickly around and pressed her brother against her so he wouldn't see anything any longer. With fear in her eyes, she flicked from Danny to Steve. "Is he going to be okay?" Her voice sounded more pained than Steve had heard ever before.

It crushed his heart into a thousand pieces. "Gracie."

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: I'm no doctor. I did consult with the one doctor I know and that's Dr. Google. So my apologies if there are some medical mistakes.**

 **Next chapter will be up on Wednesday and there's a whole lot more (whump) coming your way! Always love to hear your thoughts on these new chapters! MAHALO x DANNO7576**


	8. Chapter Six

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: THANK YOU ALL for the follows, favs and reviews. Totally awesome!** **Also, the guests who are reviewing, thank you for your kind words!**

 **If there are still some grammar or spelling issues left, they're all mine.**

 **CHAPTER SIX**

 **04:47 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

"Gracie," Steve spoke repentant while he rose up from his seat. He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, hoping Danny would wake up. Just so Grace could see her father was doing better than he looked. Which was actually a wild guess, because Danny had been asleep for a while and Steve had no clue on how he was doing.

With no response from Danny, Grace lowered herself, so she saw eye to eye with her younger brother. "Charlie, why don't you go wait for mom on the hallway."

Just like in any healthy brother and sister relationship Charlie protested against his big sister. "No, I wanna see Danno."

Now that Grace was focused on someone else instead of her father, Steve pulled the wet cloth of Danny's forehead to make it less dramatic. Steve could tell Grace was trying to hold herself together and act tough for her brother. "I know, but otherwise mom won't know which room she has to be. Just like we almost went into the wrong one remember?"

Charlie sighed dramatically and let his head down. "Okay." Steve watched Charlie walk out of the room. He was willing to accompany the kid, but the little Williams was already talking to one of the officers guarding the door. Charlie had probably no idea what was going on, and everyone wanted to keep it that way.

Grace stepped a little closer and stared with giant brown eyes at her father. Terrified, she glanced back up at Steve. "Is Danno gonna be okay?" She asked with a trembling voice.

Steve swallowed the lump in his throat. Grace had asked him the exact same question two times before. The first time was when Danny ended up in the hospital after the sarin exposure. Steve had known Danny for less than a year back then, so their friendship hadn't been as strong as it was today. Of course, it had been tough to look the little girl in the eye as he had told Grace her father was in the hospital, but he didn't think much of it. He simply hadn't established a good relationship with Gracie back then. Even though he had promised Danny was going to be okay.

The second time was when Danny had been arrested and extradited to prison in Colombia. That time Steve had known Danny for more than five years. They had become close friends, Grace had become like a daughter to Steve. He genuinely cared about the girl, well not as much as Danny did, but still, Steve would do anything for Gracie. Especially keeping her from being hurt. So going over to Rachel's house to tell Grace her dad was in prison, struck Steve. Yet he had promised to bring Danny back and that everything was going to be all right.

Today, Steve knew Danny for more than eight years. They were more than just partners. They were best friends, owners of a restaurant, but most of all they were like brothers. Over the years things had changed for the better and just like everything else Grace had changed too in those years. She was no longer a little girl, no right now Steve was staring at a grown 16-year-old. Although, there was one thing that hadn't changed. She still had the same helpless expression as the first time when she learned her hero was vulnerable.

Steve made promises before, without actually knowing if it would turn out as he promised. But looking at Grace's hurting eyes, Steve didn't know if he could find the courage to tell her the same as before. Each time it became harder on him to see the one thing Danny valued most hurt. And on top of it, this time it was Steve's fault. At least to him, it felt like it was. His chest actually burned thinking about how or what to say. Danny had said it multiple times before; he hated it if his kids would worry about him. He wanted to protect them from worry and pain. It was one of few things Steve agreed on with his partner. He would always try to do the same and protect Danny's kids. Even though Steve's words wouldn't make any impact on Grace after seeing her father like this, he said them anyway. "Don't worry, Danno is gonna be okay."

 **04:49 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Danny was sweating in places he didn't know he could. While at the same time a cold shiver ran down from the top of his head to his little toe. Every muscle in his body ached, so moving his arms or even just a finger felt like he had participated in the Olympics. He didn't know why, but somehow his breathing had gotten worse with a stabbing pain whenever he drew a breath. He was getting tired fighting whatever it was he was fighting. The doctor did come off a little suspicious when he wanted to draw blood, and without knowing the actual results, Danny knew it was bad news. He had a fever for sure, so either the virus was back, or he might have an infection.

Earlier Danny had heard the doctor come back in, but he dozed off before doctor K could tell him what was wrong. After that, he vaguely remembered a nurse trying to make him comfortable by lowering the blanket and putting a cold soaked cloth on his forehead. At first, the wet towel cooled him to the bone. The longer it covered his head, the warmer it got, and right now he didn't even feel if it was there or not. Thinking about it someone took the cloth off his forehead exposing his skin to air again. The heat left his body while the cold slowly numbed him.

Opening his heavy eyes, he watched Steve talk at someone. He didn't see who, but he knew that voice. Warm, female and kind. Still, she sounded young. She said his name. Not just his name, no his nickname, the one given by his daughter at a young age. Grace. She was here. Danny rolled his head to the left side. Every muscle in his neck protested, but it didn't stop him. Grace was standing right next to him. His pride and joy. His breath. Ironic thinking considering he would do anything to breathe without any pain.

"Grace?" His own voice was muffled by the oxygen mask. With each passing minute, he hated the thing a little more. It limited his talking, it was strapped tight to his face, and it didn't have a beneficial effect. Except helping him breathe easier and thinking about it that was at the top on his priority list. Even though he pulled it off and dropped it on the bed.

The moment Danny had been shot his kids had been on his mind nonstop. He wanted nothing more than to see them, hug them and never let go of them. Now that Grace was standing here, Danny held out his hand toward his daughter. Grace grabbed his hand. Her eyes staring sorrowfully at him. "Danno, are you okay?"

Her voice was tight with worry and together with the sadness in her eyes; it choked him up. His chest tightened as it was pure torture to see his little girl in pain. It hurt to see her like this. Every time was a new wound, a new scar to add to the collection. He never wanted to see neither of his kids hurt and yet he had quite a collection of scars. He knew that most of the times it was out of his control. This time not so much because he was the one causing the hurt. Danny swallowed hard and gave a small comforting smile. "M'fine, don't worry about me." Grace was standing within his reach, so he opened both arms hoping she would lean in and give him a hug.

She did. Grace leaned in and gave Danny a hug. He really wished he had thought about the consequences when Grace hugged him on his wrong side. She probably didn't know he got shot, at least he hoped so. The girl squeezed tight, pressing herself against the bullet wound and wrapping her arm around him on the same height as the incision. Burning pain flared through his chest as if his ribcage was set on fire. Danny grasped the sheets to ride through the pain. Even when it hurt like hell, he hugged his left arm around his daughter. The pressure was unbearable, but Grace really needed the hug, they both did. Danny gritted his teeth to suppress a grunt. He shut his eyes and held on as long as necessary.

A warm hand touched his clammy skin and squeezed in his bicep. It distracted Danny from the pain, so being a little more relaxed he opened his eyes. They fixed on the cool gray eyes of his partner. Steve stared at him with a concerned glance. There wasn't much Danny could do about it as his face probably had discomfort written all over it. He just had to wait until his little girl let go. It was one of the rules, never let go before the kid lets go. Don't get it wrong, Danny really wanted to hold onto his daughter forever, but for now, he was glad she pulled herself out of the hug. He leaned back and dropped his head heavily onto the pillow.

Before Grace could say something about her father's response, Steve created once more a distraction. "I'm gonna check up on the little guy," just as Danny, his partner noticed the distress on Grace's face as he said he was leaving, so he quickly comforted her. "I'll be right outside the room."

It took Danny a minute until he realized that with the little guy Steve referred to Danny's son. "Charlie's here?" His eyes scanned the room. How could he miss his boy standing in the room with them? He searched the room twice, but there was no one except for his partner plus Grace, and by now Steve had left the room.

"He's on the hallway. Charlie shouldn't see you like this, Danno. He'll worry too much." Gazing doleful at him, Grace explained the absence of his son.

If Danny looked as horrible as he felt right now, neither of his children should see him. He didn't want them to worry about him. Not even one second. It was his job to worry about his kids, not the other way around. Only staring back at his daughter he knew he failed with that. "Like you won't, huh?" To calm her he grabbed Grace's hand again.

"I won't. If you say, you're fine then I believe you." She sounded plausible, only Danny knew she would worry anyway, and she just said it to comfort him.

"Good," Danny caressed his daughter's hand. "Sorry, you had to come back from your trip."

A small smile appeared briefly on Grace's face. "It was a stupid trip anyway." She made another attempt not to make him feel bad about the situation. Danny didn't know why he deserved such a caring daughter as all he seemed to do was hurt her.

"I agree because I wasn't there with you and your brother," he tried to react as if indeed everything was fine. Grace didn't seem to buy it as the concerned frown didn't disappear. "Hey if you keep frowning like that you'll get the same aneurysm face as Uncle Steve," he mocked, but Danny changed his mind. "No, that's not true, you traveled seven hours, and you still look beautiful. Will's a lucky guy, and I'm telling you he's a keeper."

Grace's eyes grew wider, only this time with a glimpse of astonishment. "He's a keeper? So you actually like him? Does this mean I can hang out more with him?"

Danny smiled weakly. "No-no you cannot. I'm just saying he's a good kid, that's all." He couldn't believe how quickly his nice comment escalated. He rolled his eyes and snorted. Doing so, a sharp pain struck his chest, and he couldn't contain the grunt that was forced out of his mouth. On top of the slicing pain, a string of coughs rattled through his ribcage. With every cough, a jolt of pain lanced through his chest. He tried to suppress the coughs, but it made the tickle in his throat worse. The pressure piled up giving him one choice; he had to cough. Giving in Danny went on coughing, and it was even worse than before. It made him desperate for air. He tried catching his breath in between, but his lungs didn't cooperate. They left him breathless while the coughs deteriorated.

"You're scaring me, Danno." Out fear Grace pulled her hand away. Her eyes were even wider as before.

"It's-fine-M'fine." Danny comforted between the coughs. He could hear himself wheeze because his lungs were screaming for oxygen. He didn't receive enough air while he kept coughing, but he couldn't stop either. It was as if he needed to cough up something, but that something wasn't coming. With his right hand, he searched the bed for the oxygen mask. He was sure he had put it somewhere, only he couldn't find it.

Grace took a few steps backward. "I'll get Uncle Steve." Fear dawned on her face as she rushed out of the room.

 **04:49 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - HALLWAY**

Steve stepped onto the bustling hallway. He looked left and right searching for a little blond boy. His eyes scanned the narrowed corridor until one of the officers guarding the door pointed Steve in the direction of where the kid stood. Seeing the little Williams, a smile appeared on Steve's face. Just as restless as his father sometimes could be, Charlie pushed the brakes of an empty gurney standing in the hallway. He unlocked then locked it again. He repeated this infinitely. He probably was bored having to wait in the corridor until his mother showed up. Steve decided to pull the kid out of his misery. "Charlie boy!"

Charlie whirled around. His blue eyes were wide as if he got busted doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "Uncle Steve!" The boy exclaimed excited and ran towards his uncle with open arms.

Steve lifted the boy up. "Hey, buddy," two small arms wrapped around Steve's neck and the kid hugged him tightly. "Did you grow?" Steve asked as Charlie let go of the hug.

"No." Charlie shook his head with a cheeky smile on his face.

"No? You sure? You're almost as tall as I am." Steve teased while putting the boy down.

Charlie didn't respond, he seemed distracted by a patient that slowly shuffling by. His eyes followed the man closely as he strolled by with an IV and tubes going all kinds of places. He looked a little distressed back at Steve. "Can we go see Danno?"

Steve sighed. "Sorry, big guy. We have to wait for your mom, okay?"

"What's wrong with Danno?" Charlie asked with a crooked head.

Another question Steve didn't want to answer. Because honestly, he didn't know what was wrong or if Danny was going to be okay. He had to be, but that was Steve's opinion. He sat down on a chair standing nearby so he would be at the same level as Charlie. The boy stared impatiently but worried at Steve. He sighed once more and gave the best possible answer he could come up with. "Well, Danno's not feeling the best right now, but he'll be all right. Don't worry about that."

Charlie accepted the answer. He glanced around, staring at everything and everyone in the hallway. "I don't like hospitals, Uncle Steve."

"Me neither, buddy." Steve put his hand on the kid's shoulder and squeezed. After a minuted, he looked around as well. He really did hate the ambiance of hospitals. The people walking in the corridor were at the lowest point in their life. Hurt or in pain, which made being at the hospital a horrible thing. Between all the unfamiliar people, Steve recognized one face. Rachel. She came in through the big double door while rummaging in her shoulder bag. She seemed hasty but smiled as she spotted Steve and found her way over to them through the hustle.

"Sorry, I left my wallet and bag in de car, so I had to go back otherwise those fine gentlemen wouldn't let me in." Rachel said walking upon them. "Charlie, sweetheart, is everything all right?"

"Mommy!" Charlie went up to Rachel and grabbed her hand. "Danno's in that room," he pointed with his free hand at the door where the two officers were still standing. Charlie pulled on his mother's arm, leaning with his entire weight trying to get her to go with him. "Please, can we go see Danno?"

Rachel looked confused at Steve. He shook his head negative, silently saying they shouldn't go in there. She got the hint and focused on her son. "Charlie, I'm sorry, but I don't think we can go see your father right now. Let me talk to your uncle Steve for a minute, okay?" Rachel smiled comforting but didn't wait for Charlie to answer.

Even Steve could tell those disappointed eyes meant Charlie didn't agree with her. Rachel turned around and faced Steve. He placed his hand on her shoulder gesturing they should take a little distance from the boy to talk privately. They stepped aside and as Steve was about to say something he saw Grace fleeing onto the hallway. Their eyes met. She looked like she could start crying any second. "Uncle Steve? Something's wrong."

Steve went cold. He froze. His mind numbed, as the last words echoed through his head. Something's wrong. The voices around him faded until he only heard a buzz while the world moved on. His heart was hammering in his chest. Pounding really fast. People passed by. Grace kept staring at him. Waiting for him to do something. He needed to do something. The buzz in his ears disappeared, and all the surrounding sounds came crashing back in. He could move again, so he hurried over to Grace. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It's like he can't breathe."

Steve didn't need an extensive explanation. From where he was standing he could hear the labored breathing. Steve rushed back into the room, but he stopped near the bed while he needed a second to asses the situation. Danny lay curled up with his knees up to his chest while he pressed the spare hospital pillow against his chest. A really squeaky wheeze pierced in between the coughs as he desperately seemed to catch his breath. It sounded stuffy and worrisome. To Steve, his partner looked weak and weary, but even though pain fluctuated on his face, the defiant stance and stubborn crease on his forehead indicated he wasn't about to go down without a fight.

Danny needed more oxygen though, so Steve quickly searched for the oxygen mask. He found it dangling over the edge of the bed. Steve grabbed it and gently covered Danny's mouth and nose with the mask. Securing it Steve pulled the green strap over the back of Danny's head. "Here breathe it in, buddy," he encouraged. Their eyes locked on like magnets. The panic hardened Danny's eyes. Steve could tell his partner was frightened by this and to be honest, it scared the crap out of Steve too. "It's okay, you're all right," he said, not knowing who he was trying to convince it was the truth.

Eventually, Danny's swallow breaths gradually changed to equal and deep breaths. The coughing spree stopped, and his body relaxed. Steve dragged his hand down his face and took a deep breath himself. "See, I told you." He collapsed in the chair next to the bed. He was exhausted and in need of a bed. Thinking about the comfort of his own bed made him feel guilty. He wasn't exhausted, maybe a bit tired, but his partner was the one who had the right to feel exhausted. And he probably was as Danny was continually blinking, struggling to keep his eyes open. He was fighting the tough fight, so Steve had nothing to complain about.

Realizing he was not the only visitor around; Steve closed his eyes for a split second. He sincerely hoped Grace hadn't watched all of this. With some caution, Steve turned in his seat. Unfortunately, Grace was standing in the door opening behind him. Rachel was holding on to Grace by her shoulders. Worry was written on their faces as they both stared anxiously at Steve.

Rachel soothingly stroked Grace's brown hair. "Maybe we should let your father rest and come back another time." She suggested.

Grace nodded agreeing, but she didn't move a muscle. She was obviously going nowhere until she had any kind of reassurance that her father was all right. To Steve's surprise, Danny forced his eyes open again. It probably took every ounce of strength he had left, but he got them to open. Danny caught his daughter's gaze. He smiled from behind the mask, trying to let her know it was okay. Grace returned a small smile. "I love you, Danno."

Danny lowered the oxygen mask. "I love you too, monkey."

Looking satisfied by the affection of Grace pivoted and left the room together with her mother. They were not even around the corner when Danny slipped the mask back on. Sharing eye contact, Steve put his hand on his partner's shoulder. Danny gazed back at him bleakly; too drained for any reaction. Within seconds Danny's eyes slid shut while his breaths became longer and more profound. Even though sweat beaded on his forehead, goosebumps popped up on his arms. Steve sighed, the fever was apparently still there. Without waking his partner, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it up higher.

Watching his partner sleep, Steve's own eyes became heavier with each blink. He tipped his chair back and put his feet up on the bed. Steve crossed his arms over his chest and rested his head against the back of the chair. Closing his eyes the beeps coming off the heart monitor were keeping him awake as they were always there and hard to ignore. He tried listening to Danny's breathing, but the wheezing while inhaling was concerning to listen to. Steve focused back on the steady heart rhythm and let it eventually carry him to sleep.

 **11:19 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Locked in by the bomb on the door. Steve was sitting on his knees with his hands tied in front of him. An unfamiliar man wearing a white hazmat suit pointed a revolver at Danny. The man asked if Danny knew who he was, but Danny didn't know. Without any remorse, a loud gunshot roared into the air. The bullet hit Danny mass center. Steve went rigid with fright all over him as Danny fell forward. _"Danny! Danny,"_ the trigger was pulled for a second shot, duller than the previous one, yet a shiver ran down his spine. The gunman dropped dead on the floor with a massive hole in his head from the self-inflicted shot to his temporal lobe. Steve's eyes were fixed on the shooter. He was gone; dead.

Danny, on the other hand, was gasping for air while trying to breathe through the pain. Steve made his way over to his friend and rolled him from his side onto his back. His partner breathed slowly in through his nose, exhaled through his mouth. The baby blue eyes were staring wide with fear, and at the same time, they were serene. The shock was probably why he seemed calm. _"Danny. You hang in there, Danny. Hang on,"_ he encouraged as Danny was huffing for air while the white t-shirt turned darker. There was no time to lose, and with his hands tied together, Steve couldn't do as much as he wanted. He stood up and ran to the dinner table. With both hands bound he wiped with his arms over the table and swiped the plates off. Almost everything fell to the ground and shattered to pieces.

 _"Tani,"_ he exclaimed while holding his hands in front of him. The recent addition to the team understood what had to be done. She grabbed a plate shard off the floor and started moving it back and forward on the zip tie, trying to cut it loose. _"Come on, come on, come on,"_ he hurried. The zip tie snapped and within seconds he was back to his buddy's side. _"Danny?"_ he checked while fear crept into his voice. Blood soaked into his friend's white t-shirt, radiating outward through a small hole. He stripped the fabric away to show the dark hole in his partner's barely seen-the-sun white skin.

 _"Hey, you hang in there, buddy. You hang in there,"_ the dark red blood kept making its way out of his partner's body. It oozed between Steve's fingers as he had ripped the shirt open. He assessed the wound with his shaky hands. All he could see was the scarlet blood that once flowed in his friend's veins. _"Junior, get me something for the bleeding. Come on,"_ he urged to his other coworker as each drop of blood slowly took away the life in his partner, leaving him pale and weak, yet defying death.

 _"You hang in there,"_ he repeated. His friend's gasps were growing long and deep as his tied hands rose and fell as they lay onto his chest. The baby blue eyes started to flutter. Steve couldn't have his friend pass out, it was no option. _"No! No! No! Danny, keep your eyes open. Don't pass out on me,"_ he exhorted as his partner's eyes slid shut. _"Tani, come cut his hands loose,"_ she came instantly and started cutting the zip ties. Within seconds it broke and fell off. As requested Junior handed Steve a clean white towel. Hoping the pressure would bring his partner back to the land of the living Steve pressed the towel onto the bullet wound. _"Stay with me, buddy."_

The vivid nightmare hauled Steve from his sleep. While being deep asleep, his mind had drifted back to the horrible situation that would haunt him for the rest of his life: the quarantine unit. He startled upright, taking his feet off the bed. His heart pounded in his chest, and he was breathing fast. He leaned back and sighed, trying to calm down. He immediately scanned the dark surrounding, searching for hope. Hope that he was no longer locked up in the quarantine unit and hope that his partner getting shot was all just a nightmare. Unfortunately, reality struck him as he stared at his partner lying in a hospital bed.

Steve rubbed his sleepy eyes trying to delete the terrible nightmare that had played like a movie in his head. He focused on his partner who lay curled up with the blanket up to his chin. Despite the blanket, Danny was constantly shivering. His cheeks were burning with the flush of fever, and his body was drenched with sweat. Alarmed by the high pacing heart monitor, Steve gazed up to the screen. The steady heart rhythm that had carried him away had changed. Rapid beeps replaced the silence in the room. Steve reacted abruptly and got out of his chair. His aneurysm face quickly appeared as he shot a worried look at his friend.

"Danny?" Steve checked, placing the back of his hand on Danny's forehead and next in the crook of his neck. He felt alarmingly hot. Danny's baby blue's slowly opened and stared glassily at Steve. "You're burning up, buddy," he stated worriedly. Steve grabbed the wet cloth out the pink plastic bin standing on the side table. "Here, this should help."

Refusing, Danny turned his head to the other side. "No-'m cold."

Steve couldn't possibly imagine Danny was really feeling cold because he was covered by a blanket from his chin down to his toes. Of course, Steve knew having chills was a side effect of having a fever, so he dropped the cloth back in the bin. He went around the bed and grabbed a spare blanket out of the closet. Steve kindly placed the bed covering on top of the other one.

"I-I hate it when y-you're right," Danny mumbled.

"Right about what?" Steve leaned in closer because he noticed it took a lot more energy for his partner to talk. His breath hitched after a couple of words. Sounding as if he couldn't catch his breath like he had been running for a while. Except he was lying in bed, doing absolutely nothing. There was one thing more concerning; the high heart rate. The machine marked 135 beats, and even Steve knew that was way too fast for a normal and healthy reading. "It's okay, you don't have to say anything."

Yet Danny did. "Y-you do go to t-the," he paused to catch his breath. "T-to the grave with an f-full head of hair."

Steve snorted. "I told you, didn't I? But how would you know, huh?"

Danny gazed back at him bleakly. Steve could tell Danny was getting confused. His eyes darted helpless around like he didn't have any recollection of the previous small talk. It was the next phase of the fever.

"Why's it s-so hot?" Danny muttered. While staring lost into space, he began to cough, violently this time. He pressed his hand on his right side while he probably tried to gain control of his breathing again. Still coughing, blood splashed on the inside of the breathing mask.

Steve's eyes went wide. "Danny," he quickly ripped off the mask on Danny's face. "Okay, easy, easy," he tried to ease, but Danny coughed again, and more blood flecked his lips. "You're fine, just breathe."

The baby blues were frightened. "I'm scared, Steve."

 _There was that sentence again._

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, I really love the support. Love to hear what you think of it; hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	9. Chapter Seven

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N:** **I'm so sorry that it took a little longer than usual, but something happened at home and needed my attention. Before I knew it a week passed by, and within that week I wasn't able to write, correct or anything else for that matter. Sorry about that. I'm not sure if I replied to all the kind and wonderful reviews, if not, I'll get to you in time. For the guests that are reviewing,** **I did read them and I honestly am grateful for them, so thank you for your kind words.**

 **Also thanks for waiting, h** **ope it was worth the wait! Here's a new chapter.**

 **CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **11:19 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

Steve's eyes went wide. "Danny! Okay, easy, easy. You're fine, just breathe." The oxygen mask was ripped off Danny's face as his partner's glance carried a mixture of helplessness and shock.

Throughout the years Danny had become phenomenally good at reading Steve's mind. For starters, he just didn't think that much. No, that wasn't true, and Danny knew that he just liked to tease Steve about it. And it worked from time to time. The thing that really gave his thoughts away was Steve's body language. As a cop, Danny had learned to read people like that, and when it came down to body language, Steve was nothing different than a punk in an interrogation room. Of course, the aneurysm face made it quite easy for Danny to asses some situations. Luckily for him, Steve only used the facial expression whenever things didn't go the way he wanted. Which was actually all the time.

Except for yesterday. Yesterday Steve had acted different, he had looked at Danny like he'd never done before. Seconds after the bullet had pierced Danny's chest, Steve's wide eyes had stared fearfully at him. Danny was familiar with the anxious glance because it was the kind of fright that hardened Steve's eyes when he feared for someone's life. Danny obviously had seen his partner look at people like that, but for the first time ever Steve had stared with that particular expression at Danny. It had been Danny's life this time, so it made somehow sense. Only the fact that Steve seemed frightened hadn't comfort Danny at all. Yes, he had come close to dying before, but with the gray-blue eyes darting distressed Danny had realized it had been way more severe than previous incidents.

Being fortunate that he survived yesterday, Danny had some time to think about the situation. He understood why his partner had looked at him like that because yesterday he did come close to dying. He knew that. He had felt that. Today, he didn't feel like the end was near, yet his partner stared at him the same way he had done yesterday. So once again Steve seemed to fear for Danny's life. Apparently, he merely looked like that when people were dying. Which made Danny automatically aware he was doing worse than he initially thought. He had to admit that the metallic taste of blood in his mouth was a nasty reminder that things had taken a wrong turn, but dying? He didn't think today could even be compared to yesterday. Thinking about it he was feeling exhausted, the struggle to breathe was terrifying and his body throbbed in pain he never thought were possible, yet he had felt worse.

Clearly, he just had a miserable fever. He could feel the sweat drench his skin while waves of heat coursed through his body. The coughing continued, and he started to feel more and more like he was drowning in his own body. With shaking hands, he gripped the railing on the bed. Making a desperate attempt to pull himself up as if somehow that would help clear his airway. His partner's worried eyes were locked on him.

Due to the coughing tears burned in his own eyes. "I'm scared, Steve."

"What are you talking about? You're going to be fine. You'll be all right." Steve tried to mitigate the situation.

Danny truly wanted to believe in his friend's comforting words, but Steve's facial expression hadn't changed while saying it. "Then don't look at me like that."

Now his expression did change, only he seemed confused. "Like what?"

"Like you're scared. Like I'm dying. Don't lo-" Before he could finish Danny's throat started to close again, racking his body with coughs. He put his hand over his mouth, trying to stop whatever was coming out of his throat. After a couple of coughs, he was left gasping for air. Danny lowered his hand and swallowed hard to get rid of the horrible taste in his mouth. Looking down at his hand he knew why he recognized that taste. Blood; his hand was covered with it.

"You're not dying. Not today," Steve pushed the button on the alarm. "Keep breathing, buddy. The doctor is coming, okay? Hang on."

 **11:24 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - RECOVERY WARD - ROOM 406**

With his eyes focused on his partner's bloodied hand, Steve grabbed the alarm hanging on the side of the bed. He pushed the button three times, hoping doctors and nurses would come rushing in immediately. Nobody did, but Steve tried to stay positive toward his partner anyhow. "The doctor is coming, okay? Hang on."

Having that said, Dr. Keller entered the room. Steve doubted if the doctor came in response to the alarm because he stumbled into the room not showing any kind of hurry.

"Gentlemen, how are we doi-," stopping in the middle of the room the doctor looked up from Steve to Danny and back. He tossed the tablet aside on the nearest chair and hurried over to the bed. He took his Stethoscope from around his neck and slid it onto Danny's chest. While examining the doctor looked behind him at Steve. "What happened?"

"I don't know, he just started coughing up blood." Steve quickly explained.

"Okay," the doctor said before he turned his attention back to Danny. "Detective, try to breathe slow and steady."

Danny nodded sluggishly. He seemed completely wiped out. His body was bathed in a cold sweat and shaking like a leaf. It worried Steve to see his friend in such a bad physical state. There was nothing he could do to take some of the pain away, and that upset him even more. All he could do was watch and be by his partner's side, but that wasn't even coming close to what Steve would instead do to help his friend.

Two nurses came jogging into the hospital room to assist Dr. Keller. He went on with the examination and just as Steve had done, the doctor placed the back of his hand on Danny's forehead. "His fever is spiking," he concluded while his eyes went up to now loud beeping heart monitor. "The O2's dropping! Get him a new mask, he needs the oxygen." He ordered to the nurses.

One of them did what was asked and slid a new mask onto Danny's face. After a few seconds, the oxygen numbers on the monitor stabilized. Reassured, Dr. Keller went on and gently put a little pressure as he inspected Danny's abdomen. "Does it hurt somewhere, Detective?" The doctor queried. Steve placed both his hands on his hips as he waited for his partner to answer. But all Danny could do was mumble something that came close to a no.

"Is the IV wide open?" Dr. Keller checked with the nurse.

"Yes, Doctor." The nurse verified after checking the IV standing next to the bed.

"What's his temperature?" The doctor requested as he unbuttoned the hospital gown. Waiting for the nurse to indicate the temperature Dr. Keller took a quick look at the gunshot wound.

The nurse held the thermometer over Danny's forehead and waited for the device to sense the infrared emissions radiating from his skin. After a few seconds, it beeped. The nurse looked down at the numbers flashing on the screen. "105.4"

Dr. Keller sighed. "He's getting worse," he started buttoning the hospital gown again, but he couldn't finish it before the beeps coming off the heart monitor grew louder again. The steady green wave had changed to a red line dashing fast on the screen. "His heart rate's climbing," the doctor pointed out the obvious. "I need IV acetaminophen and hang a bag of cold Saline ASAP."

The other nurse rushed out of the room as Dr. Keller finished his command. She came back in exceptionally quickly with an IV bag. Both nurses worked on executing what the doctor told them to do. Once they were done doctor Keller put the stethoscope back in his lab coat pocket. "Let's order a full workup, chest CT, X-ray, and blood cultures and get him up to the ICU."

The nurses prepped the bed for transportation while the doctor took a step backward. Dr. Keller put his hand on Steve's shoulder and guided him out of the room. Perplexed by what just had happened Steve walked with the doctor onto the hallway. He desperately sat down on one of the chairs facing the room. He watched his partner getting wheeled out of the room. The bed was loaded with machines and wires. Steve's gaze found its way back to Danny's closed eyes. He lay anxiously still within the chaos. White as a ghost, yet the fever-flushed his cheeks. Steve pulled in a deep breath as he ran his hand over his face.

Dr. Keller grabbed the end board of the bed and was about to take off. Before they would disappear through the doubled door, Steve jumped up from his seat and went up to his friend's side. He grabbed Danny's hand and squeezed gently. The grip on his hand tightened as Danny squeezed back.

Danny opened his eyes, but the baby blues that stared at Steve barely contained any energy. "S-Steve, w-where are you going?"

Hearing struggle to speak and the gurgling gasps of pain from his partner made Steve cringe. "I'm not going anywhere. Neither are you. You'll be fine, you hear me?" he signaled with his hand toward his friend. "Doc, he's going to be okay, right?"

The doctor looked concerned back at Steve. "I don't know, but we're going to figure it out, okay?"

 **12:45 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - WAITING AREA**

Steve stood in front of a window and watched the nighttime. It was already past midnight, so the darkness was almost absolute. Except for a smattering of luminous stars that scattered the sky. Most houses were dark, and just a few showed some light within the darkness. The island had gone quiet, and so did the hospital. The hustle in the hallways during the day was replaced by peaceful silence. The patients were all inside their rooms, and only a few nurses and doctors wandered around.

Steve had retraced his steps back to the common waiting area. In contrast to previous times the room was completely empty. Having the room to himself, he could pace through the place without someone telling him to stop or that he was making them nervous with the pacing. Steve couldn't think of someone who might say that to him, except for Danny. He would make a comment for sure. Thinking about that, Steve stopped pacing. He sat down in the nearest chair and let out a big sigh. He usually preferred the quiet time alone so he could think. Only right now all he could think of was his partner, and he really didn't want to go down that road again. It would drive him crazy.

Before the horrifying thoughts could take over a Hawaiian female orderly stepped into the waiting area. "Excuse me, sir? Are you Commander McGarrett?"

"Yeah, I am." Steve jumped up as he confirmed.

"I'm sorry to bother you with this, but what do want us to do with Detective Williams's personal belongings?" Steve's stomach turned around, and his heart dropped. She made it sound like he was gone. Danny couldn't be dead. The doctor told Steve they were going to figure it out. "I'm afraid he can't take anything with him to ICU." She held up Danny's black gym bag.

Steve let out a breath of relief and reached out to take over the bag. "I-I understand, I'll take the bag, no problem."

"That would be great," The orderly handed it over. "What about the flowers and balloons?"

Steve shrugged. He had no idea what to do with those. "I don't know, what do you usually do with that stuff?"

"We send the balloons up to the pediatric ward, and the flowers go to other patients." The orderly kindly explained.

"Sounds fine with me," Steve gave her a brief smile. He scratched the back of his head. "Do you have any news? It's been over an hour."

"Doctor Keller is with Detective Williams right now. He'll be in soon to talk to you."

"All right, thank you," his cell phone rang. "Excuse me." Steve fished it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. Lou was calling. Steve was surprised to get a call from his co-worker at this particular time. He answered quickly before it would turn to his voicemail. "Lou?"

"Steve, why do I have to hear from my son that Danny's not doing fine?"

It didn't take long before Steve connected the dots. "Did Grace tell Will?"

"She did. What's going on?"

Steve sighed. He didn't mean to keep information from his friends, yet he didn't want to discuss Danny's condition. Saying it out loud would make it real, so he rather say nothing. "His fever is spiking, and he coughed up blood, so they took him up for a few scans. Doctor K was talking about transferring him to the ICU. I don't know, Lou. I'm still waiting for an update."

"Dammit. Say no more, brother. I'm on my way." Before Steve could even say something in return, Lou already disconnected the call.

 **12:53 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

When Danny awoke, he was dimly aware of his body being rigid and straight. His chest ached, but he was too damn tired to even try and figure out what the reason for all that might be. However, the universe had something else in mind as a searing pain in his chest snapped his eyes open faster than he thought possible. While the pain slowly diminished he tried to get comfortable and writhed around. Danny looked disoriented around for a moment until he remembered where he was. The hospital. Except he was no longer surrounded by the pinkish interior. This new room was more like a glass cubicle, and there was noticeably less space. Another difference was that the bed faced the glass sliding door.

Normally Danny would've panicked being in a strange surrounding, but with Doctor Keller and a nurse standing on the side of the bed a calming wave of familiarity washed over him. Comforted by their presence Danny sighed and flopped his head back onto the white hospital pillow. The deep ache settled in his chest, but his breath still quivered in short, quick gasps every time he inhaled. His lungs had no choice but to painfully and rigidly take in the chilled air around him. The cold was actually a nice feeling since the rest of his body felt like he had done an extreme workout and could barely let the heat escape.

The nurse standing next to the bed smiled compassionately at him. Danny watched her closely as she fiddled with the IV in the crook of his arm. She inserted a syringe into the IV catheter and pushed some medication. Next, the nurse took a device up to his forehead, but Danny couldn't see what she was doing with it. After seconds her eyes shot up to doctor Keller. Danny watched the nurse's mouth moving, only he could hardly hear a word she said as if he was under water. Focusing, he managed to listen to the last part of the sentence. "…fever's up to 106.1."

He was running a fever? Why didn't he know that? Wait, he actually did know that. His mind was slowly turning to mush again, and he hated that. The drugs fogged his head, bringing on a haze where thoughts would go nowhere, and even his emotions would be dulled. He could no longer think straight, so what were they giving him? Trying to stop them from pushing the meds, he rolled his head to the other side. Dr. K was standing on that side of the bed, he slung his stethoscope back around his neck. "Put in a second line and keep pushing the antibiotics. For now, there's nothing else we can do."

Danny couldn't find the strength to respond, but hell that didn't sound comforting. The doctor spoke like the end was coming near. It wasn't true though, right? Danny tried moving and lifting up his leaden arms, but it seemed like they were glued onto the mattress. He was no longer in control of his own body. He could barely move and if he did, horrible pain lanced through his chest. They must have given him some sedative because he couldn't think straight or keep his eyes open longer than a few seconds. Danny was fighting to stay awake, but his eyes became heavier with each blink. So he stopped struggling and let his eyes slip close. He actually hadn't felt this helpless since the shooting.

The shooting. He certainly didn't want to, but vivid images and thoughts from the shooting blazed through his head. His mind drifted back to the quarantine room and to everything that had happened. Crazy as it may be, after spending six days in that room, it kind of felt like home to him. Or at least he had come familiar with the place. So when this lunatic wearing a white hazmat suit forced him to zip tie his hands together while kneeling onto the floor. He remembered thinking it better be important or he would get really annoyed by this guy. Thank god he didn't say that out loud or the bullet might have been put in his brain.

Kneeling onto the floor, Danny had already felt his bad knee acting up. The sooner the unfamiliar man would give his demands, the better, because Danny didn't know how long he could've had handled sitting like that. At that point, it was all he could complain about. Life had still been normal and reliving the shooting he wished he just could've sat like that for hours. Unfortunately, that was not the intention of the man. He unexpected focused entirely on Danny. After taking the respirator off his face, the guy asked Danny if he knew who he was. Danny had no clue. He honestly had never seen the man before. It obviously was the wrong answer. The man had straightened his arm, and without any remorse, a loud gunshot roared into the air.

 _"Detective?"_

The bullet had hit Danny in his chest, but he hadn't process any of it. He once read the brain stopped processing when a traumatic event occurred. It was true. He had stopped thinking. Nothing had come passed the buzz in his ears and the painful feelings that rushed through his body. The voices faded. The air around him suddenly had gone cold, chilling his body with every breath. The world slowly moved on while excruciating pain flared through his body. His heart had hammered in his chest. He had felt all that, but his mind seemed frozen. The cold had enveloped him entirely. The air that barely entered his lungs. The floor he had crashed onto. All of it felt cold. It was the only sensation he recalled from the shooting. Other than pain obviously.

 _"He's tachycardic. Detective Williams?"_

Shortly after the bullet had hit him in the chest, he recalled passing out. He could vaguely remember going into a room to see his daughter. She was all dressed up, wearing a beautiful wedding gown. He tried to act ecstatic and blinked the tears in his eyes away. Once he noticed the tears in Grace's eyes, he knew he had messed up big time. It was because of his failed marriage with Rachel that their daughter was having doubts to marry the love of her life.

Coming back to the land of the living his mind had started working again. The only thing that had popped up was his kids. He would never see them grow up. He wouldn't be at Grace's wedding or Charlie's graduation. More importantly, he would never see them again. He was locked in a room with a motion sensor bomb on the door. The intercom had been ripped off the wall, and their cell phones were crushed. They had no communication with the outside world. He was going to die, and there was no way he could call his kids and let them know how much he loved them.

Apparently, as he was told, many blackouts followed. He remembered that each time before he passed out he felt frightened. He didn't know whether he would wake up or not and see his kids ever again. Danny had been grazed in his arm, multiple times. One time the bullet had been stuck in his bicep, but a through and through in his chest was one thing he had never experienced before. At least not before yesterday. There was a first time for everything, he rather would've skipped this first time though. However, he rather would endure that kind of pain than the hurt of not seeing his children ever again.

 _"Detective, are you with me?"_

Danny's eyes snapped open as the blanket was taken off his upper body. Escaping his nightmare, he came back to the hurting reality. A shiver ran down his spine when the stethoscope was placed on his chest. With the blanket gone his torso was exposed to the regulated temperature in the room. Danny wondered if they had lowered the heat because the air felt like it had dropped below zero. He was freezing, constantly quivering due to the cold. Danny really tried fighting the fever, but he didn't seem to win the battle.

 _"Push 4 milligrams of Midazolam."_

Once more he lost consciousness, drifting back to place within his imagination.

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone that has read, faved, followed or reviewed this story.. Mahalo for your support and I always love to hear what you think of it...**


	10. Chapter Eight

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Here we go again! Another chapter! I'm amazed with the reviews and I love seeing you guys like it so much! Thank you all for leaving a review behind.**

 **If there are still some grammar of spelling issues left, they're all mine.**

 **Originally I wrote chapter seven and eight as one chapter, so that's the reason this chapter's a bit shorter. But hey let's continue shall we?...**

 **CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **12:59 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - WAITING AREA**

Steve jumped up out of his seat as Doctor Keller entered the waiting room. "Doc," he began, only to be silenced as Dr. Keller help up his hand to forestall anything Steve was about to say.

"Commander, before you ask, the scans were clear from any internal bleeding. I know it seems like a major set back, but Detective Williams is fighting the infection, and that's a good thing."

The explanation indeed sounded like good news only Steve didn't completely understand. "All right, then why did he cough up blood?"

"It's due to pneumonia. The blood is coming from the lungs and is often the result of prolonged coughing or in his case the lung infection. As long as he's coughing up bright red blood it's safe to say it's from pneumonia," the doctor put his hands in his lab coat pockets. "To be honest his fever is spiking dangerously high, so for his own safety he's settled in the ICU until we have the fever under control."

Steve gave a brief nod. "I understand," he didn't know much about medical conditions, but he knew a thing or two about antibiotics, and in his opinion, they should've kicked in by now. "Are the antibiotics even working? I mean, the fever only seems to be climbing right?"

"That's true, but we're doing everything we can. His low immune system isn't doing him any good. His body has to fight harder than it normally should've, and it's the same with the antibiotics. It'll take longer to see some improvement than when his immune system would've been healthy."

The explanation made sense to Steve, and deep down he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear the doctor say it as well. "He's fighting, right?"

"He is. But, Commander, his oxygen level is low, even with the supplemental air. Don't get me wrong, I won't recommend intubation. Only if his temperature keeps rising; we might have to," the doctor spoke uttermost serious. "For now he's critical but stable, so let's not drive ourselves crazy. Detective Williams will be monitored closely. I'll be coming by as much as I can, and that's all we can do for now, all right?" Dr. Keller patted Steve on the shoulder. "If you want you can go back in," the doctor offered. "Let me warn you that he might be a bit confused. After the scans, he mentioned severe pain in his chest, but we didn't see anything suspicious on the scans, so it's most likely caused by the numerous coughing fits. I increased his doses of pain medication and prescribed coughing suppressants, only with the fever going through his system, he's getting more drowsy and confused."

 **01:06 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Going up to the fifth floor Steve followed Doctor Keller as he had said he would bring Steve up to the intensive care unit. A sliding door opened and they both entered the ICU. Frankly, day or night time didn't matter up here. The ICU was fully staffed with nurses and doctors. Most of them were standing around the nurses' station, which was located in the middle of the ICU. Steve guessed it was to have a view into all the cubicles. The rooms were spread apart, and each could be turned into an isolation room by a big square glass sliding door. However, almost all the doors were open, to make all-time access possible.

They went past three rooms before Doctor Keller stopped. He went in first and checked the monitors and equipment standing around. Steve waited a little longer and watched the doctor work from behind the glass. The bed was the centerpiece of the room. Numerous machines were standing on both sides of the bed's headboard. Danny seemed even worse than right after surgery. Cold sweat glistened in his gaunt features. His eyes were sunken and his skin sallow. Steve was pretty sure his partner was out of it, yet Danny constantly shivered.

Dr. Keller stepped out, and Steve went in. He pulled up the one chair standing on the right side. Danny probably wouldn't notice, but Steve placed his hand on his friend's shoulder to let him know he was there. Steve could feel the warmth of his partner's skin. Even under a light cotton sheet, Danny was radiating heat like a brick right out of the oven.

"You're here?" Danny suddenly asked while he gazed bewildered at Steve.

Steve smiled, trying to hide the gravity of the situation. "Buddy, you didn't give me much of a choice."

Danny took off the face mask. "No, y-you did have a choice. You had a choice. I-I gave you a choice," he spoke muddled, not making any sense to Steve. "I said I-I was gonna help you. I said I was gonna get you through this, d-didn't I?"

Steve frowned confound. He had no clue what Danny meant by that. "Get me through what, Danny?"

"Federal prison," Danny stated. "You said you would never survive. That you were not strong enough. That you're not me," he paused and heaved in several ragged breaths. Steve was about to put the mask back on as Danny went on. "Y-you know what, you were right. Still, you should've turned yourself in, Matty."

Fear engulfed Steve's conscience, knocking all other thoughts aside. "Danny,"

Danny's earnest gaze hardened into one with anger and hurt. "W-Why? That's all I wanna know," he levered himself upright. "I mean we could've tried to fix things. We're family. I'm your brother, Matthew."

Steve looked around him. He was really the only person in the room with Danny. This was not happening. It couldn't be. Steve put his hand on his friend's arm. "Danny? Hey, listen to me, it's me, Steve," his heart was hammering in his chest, hoping this was just the fever talking. "I'm not Matty, buddy."

Something changed, like a light switch that got flipped. Danny's eyes darted around the room as if he was searching for something or possibly someone. When their eyes locked, he seemed to recognize Steve, but Danny stared perplexed and lost at him. "Steve? Where did he go?" He looked around innocent, truly believing his brother was just here. "Where's Matty?"

Steve swallowed hard. He didn't know what to say. It didn't matter because everything he would say would be upsetting anyway. Steve let his head down for a moment before he looked back up at his best friend. "I'm sorry, buddy, but Matty's dead."

Danny flicked a despairing glance up at Steve. "No, no, he can't be gone," his voice trembled with tightly contained emotions. "I s-should've shot him. I should've said goodbye. I just let him go. I let him go, Steve," he gasped for air, but the lack of oxygen didn't seem to bother him. Steve's words came crashing in hard like it was the first time someone told him his brother died.

The heart monitor started racing; marking a heart rate of 149. Before Steve could even get up a nurse came rushing in along with a different doctor, someone other than Dr. Keller. Steve had seen this doctor when they rushed Danny out of the quarantine room two days ago. The seasoned doctor grabbed Danny by his shoulders and pushed him back on the bed. Danny let him, but when the doctor took his left arm, Danny started to stir trying to pull his arm free.

His gaze was focused entirely on Steve though as if he didn't even notice the doctor. "I let him get on that plane. Thinking I might ever see him again. I let him walk away. I-It's my fault he's gone," Danny's voice faltered some more. He still fought to reclaim control over his body, but the doctor wouldn't let go. The man ordered the nurse to get some medications. Steve didn't have to need a medical degree to know the doctor asked for a sedative.

Within seconds the nurse returned and handed the doctor a syringe. Danny's arms were squirming around, fighting the doctor who was trying to gain access to his IV. Danny kept struggling with the doctor. Not aggressively, but he was preventing him from injecting the sedative. Danny probably wasn't even aware he was obstinate, he was just slowly losing it. No wonder because he came straight out of a delusion just to get hit in the face with the truth.

Steve wanted to help but didn't know what he was supposed to do. Apparently the fever along with previously taken medication was causing this behavior, so it actually didn't give Steve much of choice. Either he could help his friend, or he could watch him go through a horrible nightmare. Danny's left hand was reaching for the IV again. But before he could rip the IV out of his arm, Steve grabbed his friend's left arm.

"Danny, listen to me. It's not your fault, okay? You hear me? It's not your fault," Steve pressed the arm firmly, but gentle back onto the bed. The doctor looked thankful at Steve and injected the syringe into the IV port. "You're gonna be all right. I promise."

Danny's eyes scanned left and right like he was searching for signs of someone coming to help free him. "No, i-it's all m-my fault. I s-should've,-" his speech started slurring, and his arms lost tension. "I s-should've saved h-him." He was no longer fighting against the firm grip of Steve. Danny's body went limp, and he slumped with his head back onto his pillow. He mumbled something incoherent, but the actual words never made it past his lips. While his stare became vacant, a single tear dropped from the corner of his eye. Steve swallowed and looked down at the floor again. It tore him to pieces to see his friend this vulnerable. Gazing back up Danny's eyes were closed and his facial expression wiped clean by the medication.

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Lot more to come,**

 **Always love to hear what you think of it!**

 **MAHALO x DANNO7576**


	11. Chapter Nine

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Hello there! Wow, guys, I'm really grateful for the positive reviews and the heartwarming messages! THANK YOU to everyone that has read, faved, followed or reviewed this story. I love seeing the continued support you guys have for this story. It really brightens up my day! Now let me (hopefully) brighten up your day with this new chapter!**

 **CHAPTER NINE**

 **01:15 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Steve went up the coffee machine standing down the hallway. He stared at the screen for a while. The device gave him a thousand options on different kinds of coffee, but he just wanted a black coffee, nothing fancy. Touching the screen to skip through the options, the screen froze. Steve double tapped; nothing. He pressed a little harder this time, still nothing. Starting to get frustrated he slammed on the side of the machine. A cup dropped in its holder, and warm liquid poured into the paper cup. Steve glanced back up to the screen. Out of all the option, he got hot chocolate. He didn't even like hot chocolate. Still, he waited for the machine to complete preparing the beverage.

While stirring in the cup, he sat down in a chair facing the coffee machine. He was willing to take a sip, but then he would give in on something he didn't want. He didn't want a hot chocolate, nor did he want to see his friend go through that kind of grief again. He honestly didn't want any of it. The fact that Danny had an infection was already bad enough, but him having a fever that made him confused and delusional was one of the cruelest things Steve ever had to watch. Actually three years ago he had been in the same spot. He witnessed his partner go through one of the roughest moments in life. Thinking about it Steve wasn't sure whether learning Matthew was dead or actually killing Marco Reyes had been the lowest point for Danny though.

On the flight to Columbia, they barely had said a thing to each other. Steve had been fine with the silence, he wasn't someone to keep a conversation going if not needed. Only the fact that his partner didn't feel the need to talk worried him. Danny was always talking, and if he were allowed, the chatter would be accompanied by wild hand gestures. Not in that moment though. He had been staring out the window almost the entire flight.

Steve didn't blame his partner, he probably had been nervous, and it was his right to be silent. Some guy had been standing in his house days ago, saying his brother owed him money. Well, Matthew stole the money and never returned it, but whether Matthew owed him or stole it. Marco Reyes wanted his money back. Danny had called Steve the second Reyes left his house. Danny had been a legit mess when Steve picked up the phone, but as always they figured it all out. They found a way to get all the money Reyes demanded. The only thing left to do was go to Colombia. Without thinking twice about it, Steve had joined his partner to the exchange, and that's when life took a horrible turn.

From the moment Reyes told Danny he had Matthew, there must have been one thing on Danny's mind. Steve was no expert in reading his friend's mind, not even after all those years, but he knew for sure Danny wanted just one thing. To save Matty. It was all that mattered. So when they handed over the money and waited for Matthew to show up alive, not only Danny's world shattered to pieces when he didn't, so did Steve's. He would never know how much it hurt to have your brother delivered in an oil barrel. But seeing his friend break with grief in front of his eyes, was one of the hardest things he had to watch in his life.

While Danny had been struggling to keep his tears silent, Steve had made up his mind. Reyes had to pay for what he put Danny through. Whether it was locked up in a prison cell or a bullet to the heart, Steve was fine with it either way. It didn't take long for his partner to find the exact same rage. Danny had threatened Reyes with a kind of anger Steve had never seen before. It sure scared Reyes when they came back after eliminating his henchmen. There was nowhere else to go, and with Danny pointing a gun at his head, Reyes had stared fearfully at Danny.

Steve stood right behind Danny as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through Reyes's brain. God, if Danny hadn't done it, Steve probably would've done it himself. He rather would've done it, because, on top of the loss of his brother, Danny had to deal with the guilt of killing a man. The second he fired that gun, Steve could see guilt consuming his partner. Both of them figured that ending that man's life was the closure they needed, but the truth was, the hurt just started.

All those years Danny never cried in Steve's presence. Right after it happened, Steve could obviously see the awful hollowness, the waves of wretchedness that threatened to engulf Danny's mind, body, and soul. But never did Danny show that side of him when Steve was around. Steve always figured that if he would want to share anything Danny would come to him. Sure they talked, and Steve had been there for him more than ever, but not a single tear had dropped. At least not to his whereabouts. Coming to think of it there had been one time that Danny had opened the door with red eyes. It had been shortly after coming back from Colombia when Steve had gone by Danny's place to share the results of the autopsy.

At that moment Steve had promised himself he would always try to protect Danny from any hurt that might come his way. Yet he failed spectacularly at that this week. It tore Steve to pieces seeing Danny going through the whole process of losing his brother again. He honestly thought Matthew was back by his side and then Steve had to ruin that moment and tell Danny his brother had died years ago. Danny didn't deserve to be hurt like that. He had paid for killing Reyes emotionally and physically. So there was absolutely no need for him to be dragged back into that dark hole.

Clearly reliving that moment caused a deepening of the pain. A pain that had been there for years, one that never had seen the light of day. Danny must have carried that burden with him all those years; otherwise, it wouldn't pop up this easily. He finally poured out that emptiness in his heart and now that he did Steve had taken the easy way. He should've been there for his friend, but instead, he had sent Danny asleep. Steve had sent him to a place where Danny's mind could take him back to that horrible time. Even worse, he couldn't escape if he wanted because of the drugs.

 **01:29 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Lou didn't recall saying bye to his family, he just rushed out of the house and climbed into his SUV. He probably said it because he always did. It had become a remote routine, one that meant a lot to him as he never knew how the day would go. Since he didn't remember doing so, he called Renee on his way over to the hospital and explained the urgency of his sudden departure.

Arriving at King's Medical Center Lou took the elevator up to the ICU. He already had checked his friend's whereabouts at the front desk before heading up. As the entrance sliding door opened Lou spotted Steve immediately. The six feet man's broad shoulders were impossible to miss. Lou paused a second before he casually strolled up to Steve. The commander was sitting near the coffee machine with his head in his hands, not aware of Lou closing in on him. Steve seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Lou had never seen him this lost, and whether he was lost in his thoughts or in his heart, it was hard to see his friend go through it.

Lou stepped forward. "McGarrett, talk to me, man. How bad it is?"

Steve's eyes shot up abruptly, apparently was having deep thoughts. Steve sighed and leaned back in his seat. He summed up most of the things that went down earlier that day. "He's in pretty bad shape, Lou. The doctor had to sedate him."

Lou frowned. "Sedate him? Why would they do that?"

For a second Steve peered sightlessly at the wall. He took a deep breath, and his gaze flicked back to Lou. "He-um, he believed I was his brother."

Now it was Lou's time to turn all quiet. Lots of questions had run through his head when he had hung up the phone call with Steve, but this wasn't something he had thought of. "His brother? Matthew? God, that's horrible, man. You all right?"

"Me? Yeah, it's him I'm worried about," the commander confessed. "I know that the fever is making him delirious, but he shouldn't have to go through all this. He doesn't deserve this."

"No, he doesn't," Lou sat down in the chair next to the one Steve was sitting in. "At least he doesn't have to go through it alone."

Steve nodded. "That's right. I appreciate you coming all the way over here, Lou."

Lou looked aside at Steve. "Did you really think I would let you take care of him all by yourself? Because that's not how we do things."

Steve leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. His stare was focused on his folded hands. "I would trade places with him in two seconds, you know."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm sure Danny knows that too," Lou placed his hand sincere on Steve's shoulder. "He'd probably say something like," he cleared his throat and tried to imitate Danny's grumpy voice. "They have to file a missing persons report if you keep talking nonsense like that."

A grin appeared on Steve's face as he probably could visualize his partner say something like that. "That's definitely something he would say."

They both stayed silent, letting the joke hang in the air for a bit. Lou stood up and gazed up to the cubicle Danny was in. He slid his hands in his pocket while he turned back at Steve. "How about I go sit with our boy while you go outside and take a deep breath?"

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and stood up as well. "Thanks, I'll be back in five."

"Take all the time you need."

 **03:04 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Once, Steve had returned to the ICU both him, and Lou stayed for the night. They made themselves as comfortable as they could get. The chairs weren't ideal for sleeping in, but for one night it would be fine. Or in Steve's case, for the second night. Lou didn't seem to have a problem with the chair, because he fell asleep straight away. Steve, on the other hand, had trouble falling asleep. His mind was keeping him up by replaying the events of the last days over and over.

Leaning with both arms on the bed rail Steve stared at his friend. The minutes dragged by slowly as there didn't seem to be any improvement in Danny's condition. Danny hadn't moved a muscle since the doctor had given him the medication. Not even with the doctors and nurses coming in and out multiple times. Giving in on the exhaustion Steve rested his forehead on his arms. He sighed out of despair.

"You should catch some sleep."

Steve lifted up his head, looking straight at Lou who apparently had woken up. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes briefly. "I tried."

Lou shrugged his shoulders. "So what's eating you?"

"All of this I guess," Steve paused as he didn't feel like opening up. "It doesn't seem like he's getting any better," he pointed at the red flashing temperature number on the heart monitor. "I mean the fever hasn't come down and you can hear him having trouble breathing with every breath he takes."

"He'll get better. Just give him some time," Lou's attempt to stay positive hardly made any impact on Steve, but he appreciated the encouraging words. His gaze traced back at his partner. Danny was still sleeping in the same position as before. Steve couldn't possibly imagine Danny was comfortable this way, but as long as he was asleep, he was resting and hopefully getting better. Suddenly Danny's eyes started twitching underneath his closed eyelids.

Lou presumably noticed it too. "Is he waking up?"

"Don't know," Steve placed his hand on his partner's hand and squeezed gently. Danny's fingers flinched in response, but his eyes didn't open nor did they stop twitching. This could only mean one thing, Danny was having a nightmare. Steve leaned in. "Buddy, it's okay. We're here, you're safe."

 **07:39 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Eventually, the exhaustion won, and Steve had fallen asleep. Around six in the morning, he woke up once again as the doctor came in for a quick exam. Steve didn't leave nor did Lou. They waited for the doctor to finish and share his findings. To Steve's relieve the fever had come down to 103.6. The antibiotics were kicking in and doing their job. Reassured by the update, Steve finally relaxed and slept for another hour.

Later that morning both Steve and Lou had gone for a short walk downstairs. They went to straighten their legs and grab a cup of coffee after a long night. But not even 15 minutes later they already traced their steps back to the ICU. The two officers guarding the main entrance of the Intensive Care Unit changed shifts as Steve and Lou reached the floor. They thanked both men and greeted the new officers. Going past the nurses' station, one of the nurses stopped them from walking by. "Commander? Your partner is waking up."

Steve didn't need to hear anything else the nurse might have to say. He gazed aside at Lou, and they went directly back to Danny's cubicle. Going in Steve knocked out of courtesy on the glass sliding door. He didn't wait for his partner though, he entered anyway. Danny was no longer lying in the same position as last night. He had turned his head to the other side and had possibly shifted with his legs as the sheets and blanket were a mess. "Hey, Danny?"

Danny ripped the oxygen mask off the first thing. Then he rolled his head toward the door. "Steve?" He questioned, but recognition dawned on his face.

As Steve walked up to the end of the bed, he couldn't help other than to smile. "Yeah, that's right."

Danny let out a strained groan while he stretched his neck. "Why wouldn't it be right?"

"You don't remem,-?" An elbow poke in the ribs from Lou cut Steve's question short. It almost made him drop the paper cup he was holding. "What?" he looked irritated aside at his coworker. Lou had excellent nonverbal communication skills, so Steve knew immediately that he should stop talking.

Lou took over and smiled compassionated at Danny. "How are you feeling, brother?"

"I'm feeling fantastic," Danny stated sarcastically as he pulled a cautious breath and levered himself upright. Doing so he squeezed his eyes shut, and Steve could see the pain flash across his partner's features. "When can I go home?" Danny inquired.

For a brief moment Steve and Lou shared eye contact, but Steve rolled his eyes a second later. He couldn't believe Danny was even serious about it. Before Steve could make a comment, Lou went ahead.

"Don't think that's up to us, but it's a good sign you're feeling better," he traced his steps back to the chair he had spent the night in. "Actually, I was thinking when you get out of here, I'm gonna teach you how to make proper pancakes, how does that sound?"

"What's wrong with my pancakes?" Danny asked, sounding a little offended. "Steve? You like them, don't you?" it stayed quiet. Steve didn't even have to say a word, because Danny had no trouble filling in the blanks himself. "No? You lied to me then? When you said they were the best thing you had ever tasted?"

Feeling caught Steve scratched the back of his head. "No-well-I mean," he started, but he knew there was no way out of this tight spot if he kept lying. "What was I supposed to say?" Steve shot a glance at Lou, trying to get some support from him, but he was enjoying this way too much.

A giant grin beamed on Lou's face while he tried to act seriously. "Oh, I don't know, let me think. How about the truth?"

Steve joyful jabbed his finger at Lou. "That might have worked," he admitted before he looked back at his partner. "But hey, Danny, if Lou wants to teach you, maybe next time I'll tell the truth when I say they are the best." Steve teased.

Danny stared annoyed at him. "Could you do me a favor? Please shut up and stop talking for the foreseeable future."

Once again another Doctor strolled in. At least Steve assumed the man was a doctor because he was wearing a white lab coat. "Good morning Gentlemen, I'm Dr. Lewis. Head of the Cardiology department. How are you, Detective?" He asked as he leaned in to give Danny a handshake.

"Annoyed." Danny scoffed.

Doctor Lewis cleaned his hands with antiseptic gel from the dispenser hanging on the wall. "Don't know whether that's a good thing or not."

"Don't worry, he'll get over it," Steve waved the argument away as his concern had spiked when the doctor introduced himself. "I'm sorry, did you say the head of cardio?"

"That's right, Dr. Keller asked me to consult as he had some concerns. We were going over the chart as he was paged to an emergency last night. I'm sure he'll come by after he's done with the surgery," the doctor explained. "Why don't the two of you go grab some breakfast while I do a few tests?" He suggested as he apparently needed the space and privacy.

"All right, we'll be back later." Lou said as he grabbed Steve by his shoulders before he could argue against. Which he otherwise would've done as he didn't see the point of leaving.

Exiting the ICU bay an orderly crossed them, pushing a portable machine forward. She walked up to Danny's cubicle and left the device with Dr. Lewis. To Steve's knowledge, the machine appeared to be for an Electrocardiograph test. And if that wasn't already enough to make him worried the orderly came back onto the hallway and took the echo machine. The one that was just standing there and she brought it into the bay as well. Steve was familiar with the equipment as he had those tests himself after the liver transplant.

"I'm sure Dr. Keller is just being thorough." Lou comforted as Steve kept looking back at his partner's cubicle.

Once more Steve glanced over his shoulder before he left the ICU. "I hope so."

 **07:42 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ICU**

Danny fiddled with the name tag around his wrist. "Must be quite serious if they send the head of cardio himself."

"That's not immediately true, I happened to be available, that's all." Dr. Lewis reassured.

The physician seemed convincing, and Danny almost believed him, but as an orderly brought in two machines, Danny started to get suspicious. "All right, but add Dr. K's concerns, and there's definitely something going on."

"We'll know soon. Don't worry, you're in good hands," the doctor plugged the ear tips of the stethoscope in and slid the end underneath the hospital gown and onto Danny's chest. "Detective, can you inhale slowly, please."

Danny did what the doctor asked, but after a few breaths, a deep frown appeared on the man's face. Making it clear there was something wrong. "You might wanna work on your facial expression if you don't want me to worry."

"Sorry about that," the doctor tried to look less concerned, but he kept frowning. "Are you experiencing sharp or sudden pain in your chest if you inhale?"

Danny shook his head. "No, just quick out of breath."

"You know for the oxygen mask to help you with that you have to put it on your face," the doctor teased while handing over the mask. "Really, it appears to be supporting with pneumonia."

Danny rolled his eyes but complied and slid the mask back on his mouth. "Funny, but seriously what's with the face?"

"I'm afraid Dr. Keller was right. There's indeed a heart murmur, though it's systolic and therefore usually innocent. Only the high fever along with an increased heart rate and the weariness may indicate the murmur is caused by acute endocarditis. So I'm going to do a quick echo and ECG to rule out any of that if that's okay."

Danny nodded, consenting to the test. "Is that the reason I'm in the ICU?"

"No, you've been in critical condition throughout the night because of the infection. Your fever spiked to 106.1, and I don't think I have to explain how dangerously high that is. Right now it's down to 103.6." The doctor clarified while he unbuttoned the hospital gown on both sides and pulled it down, showing Danny's bare, but injured chest.

"At least that explains all the worried faces around here." Danny didn't know what else to say about it as he didn't even recall ending up in the ICU. Except for the part that he was shivering in the heat and Dr. K was asking him questions. Next thing he woke up this morning. He did remember having a horrifying nightmare about Matthew, but that wasn't something new. He still had the same dream from time to time, hauling him from his sleep during the night.

Dr. Lewis pulled the portable machine closer and grabbed a bottle. "This might be a bit cold," he warned before he placed some gel onto Danny's upper chest followed by the transducer. Dr. Lewis moved the transducer back and forth recording images of sound-wave echoes. Danny tried to become less tense by listening to the pulsing whoosh, but the cold gel kept him from doing so. Apparently, the doctor noticed. "Try to relax, the fever is possibly the probable cause of the rapid blood flow through your heart, which can result in an innocent heart murmur."

"Using the word possibly is not really helping."

Dr. Lewis studied the pictures that were displayed on the video monitor. "This will help because I don't see any abnormalities or adhesions and no inflammations around your heart valves." He stated as he wiped the gel from Danny's chest.

"What about the murmur?" Danny asked, taking the oxygen mask off again.

"Let's check it out." The doctor placed several sticky electrodes on Danny's chest, arms and legs. Then he attached the wires onto the stickers and made sure they were properly working. "I'm going to turn it on, so keep as still as possible."

Danny did what the doctor asked and rested his head back onto the pillow. After a couple of minutes, Dr. Lewis ripped a piece of paper off the machine and examined the test results. He looked up and smiled comfortingly. "Your heart's pumping just fine, so that means no endocarditis. The murmur's innocent and will probably go away once your temperature drops back to normal," he disconnected the leads and peeled the stickers off. "But your heart rate's higher than I would like, so I'll prescribe anticoagulants to prevent blood clots and beta blockers to lower your heart rate and blood pressure," all cleaned up, Dr. Lewis closed the gown again. "You've been incredibly lucky, Detective."

Danny levered himself up. None of this felt like luck to him. His muscles were rigid from lying still so long, his chest ached from all the coughing, and his breathing hadn't improved much. "You call getting shot incredibly lucky?"

"The bullet missed your heart by three millimeters, so yes, I would call that luck." The doctor stated the fact.

"Okay, that changes the circumstances," Danny admitted, feeling indeed lucky that the bullet didn't go through his heart. Hearing luck was on his side again, he might as well ask the one thing he wanted most right now. "So when can I go home?"

Dr. Lewis snorted but went tidying up the used machines. "If the fever comes down below 101.5 we'll transfer you back to the surgical ward," it was all the doctor consented for now. He was about to exit the room as he turned back around. Dr. Lewis pointed at the oxygen mask lying on the bed. "Detective, put it back on."

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: F** **or the guests who have left a review behind, thank you for your** **kind and thoughtful words!**

 **To everyone, as always THANK YOU for reading! Next update will be soon.**

 **Mahalo for your support and I always love to hear what you think of it...**


	12. Chapter Ten

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, so sorry I went MIA. Time has been flying by, and I didn't realize it had been this long since I've uploaded a new chapter. So I'm really sorry about it. Thank you for waiting, and I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter anyway.**

 **If there are some grammar of spellings issues left, they're all mine. I did my best, but hey I'm human, and I make mistakes (probably a lot of them). Anyway, I wanted to post the next chapter since you all have been waiting for so long. ENJOY!**

 **CHAPTER TEN**

After spending the day resting and dozing off in the ICU Danny was transported back to the surgical ward the next morning. His fever had come down to 101.1, so as promised he returned back to his old room. Steve planned to visit his partner, but a case had come up, and it needed his attention. Danny didn't make a big deal out of it primarily as he could use the alone time to rest. Steve called later that night to check in and to say he was on his way over, only Danny didn't want to hear any of it. He told Steve to go home and spend the night in a proper bed. Like old times an argument took place, but eventually, Steve agreed and turned back around. He would come by first thing tomorrow.

 **NEXT DAY - DECEMBER 22ND - 08:39 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

A good night of sleep was precisely the thing Steve needed, and he was glad he'd listened to his partner. Not that he would admit that to anyone, especially not Danny. Steve lowered his cup of coffee as he grinned at the thought of telling his friend. He quickly took another sip as he didn't want to get caught smiling when Junior walked into the kitchen. They already had gone over the tasks of the day after their morning swim, but they had stumbled on a few questions related to Danny's case. So the younger Navy SEAL poured himself a cup of coffee as well, and they started discussing the case.

Once Steve had instructed Junior on how to proceed Steve left home as he wanted to visit his partner before heading to work. Even though the day had just started, he guessed Danny would be awake by now. Stepping into his friend's hospital room Steve was surprised by what he saw. Danny was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing his own grey sweat short and a black T-shirt. It almost appeared as if nothing ever happened. The color on his cheeks looked healthy, and his energy seemed to have been restored. Even though all of it seemed very promising, Steve's concern was raised as Danny was giving the impression of getting up.

Steve wasn't sure if Danny should be getting out of bed by himself, so before he would get up, Steve checked his partner's intentions. "Yo, what are you doing?"

"Hey," Danny greeted as he shoved on his slippers while he grabbed the IV stand. Next thing he pushed himself off the bed and put his feet on the floor. "I have to get out of here."

Steve raised his eyebrows to confound. Did Danny really think he could walk out of here right now? He clearly couldn't, because even with the supportive IV stand he swayed on his feet. Only with the black gym bag standing on the bed, it really seemed like Danny was trying to leave. Before he could take a step, Steve moved in closer. "Okay, slow down. You're not going anywhere." He held his hands in front of him trying to ease his partner, or catch him if he would lose his balance.

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, not like right at this moment, you putz."

Steve let out a relieved sigh as his partner hadn't lost his mind. "All right, if you want to get out of this room so badly, I'll get a wheelchair." He tried to compromise.

"No, I have to stay mobile; doctor's orders," Danny informed. "Besides I wanna get out of here as soon as possible, so I can be home with Christmas."

Steve had to think hard which day it was today because the past week had been a bit crazy, so he'd lost track of time. "Don't worry, that's in three days."

"Thank you, I'm keenly aware that it's Christmas in three days, but if you don't mind, I wanna make it home before that," Danny sneered while he looked around him searching for something. Finding the new cell phone on the nightstand, he grabbed the phone and put it in his pocket. "In case you forgot, I still have one kid who gets really excited around this time of the year, me not being home with him would be really disappointing."

Steve gave in as he understood his partner's point. "Okay, I understand. Where are we going? A short walk down the hall, or?"

Danny shrugged. "As far as I can get."

"Why are you still standing here? Let's go." Steve mocked.

Danny shuffled his way through the corridor. He was faster than Steve anticipated. However his partner was lagging several steps behind him, so Steve adjusted his pace, or he would reach the end of the hallway quicker than Danny. In total silence, Steve walked next to his friend. He didn't mind the quietude, but Danny was uncharacteristically silent. Steve figured it took too much energy for Danny to walk and talk, so he focused on the walking part. Going past the elevators his thinking got confirmed as Danny started to wheeze a little. With concern Steve looked back over his shoulder, they were just halfway through the hallway. Danny shouldn't be having this much trouble breathing, but frankly, the pneumonia was still affecting his lung capacity.

Steve decided not to say anything about it. His partner could assess the situation better than him, so he trusted Danny to make the decision of going back whenever he felt like it. Instead of saying something Steve gazed at the typical Hawaiian sceneries hanging on the walls. As he was observing the paintings, he got distracted by an orderly. The man was clumsily restocking a medical cart, one that was standing in the hallway. With way too many things in his hands, the orderly dropped two metal instrument trays. Steve watched the tray's clash together while they fell down.

A loud bang dinned through the narrow corridor as the tray's hit the tiled floor. Steve didn't move a muscle when the trays fell, but the clattering noise made Danny startle like a deer in the woods. Steve stopped dead in his tracks as Danny suddenly doubled over as if he got punched in the stomach. Steve's heart leaped out of worry as his partner let out a pained grunt and pressed his hand onto the right side of his chest. His right hand white-knuckled as he held tight onto the IV stand.

Steve quickly grabbed his partner's arm to steady him. "Hey, hey, hey, you okay?" he pulled his partner a bit straight. "Danny? Hey, you all right?" Steve asked alarmed, but Danny didn't answer. "Buddy, look at me." Steve frowned at his friend's pallor stance. With the blood drained from his face, Danny looked up and stared wide-eyed at Steve.

 **08:58 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

Danny tried to keep his breathing under control while at the same time he put one foot in front of the other. Doing both took a lot more energy than he expected, but that didn't stop him. Step by step he would make it to the end of the hallway, and if that meant not talking with his partner, he was okay with it. Danny knew Steve actually liked the silence, so he didn't think twice about it. Especially since he started wheezing as he couldn't draw in his usual lung-full of oxygen. Compared to the quarantine his oxygen levels were fine, or at least a bit concerning, but not life-threatening. So he didn't let the lack of air keep him from going forward.

With his eyes locked on his feet, a loud bang dinned through the hallway. His heart jumped as it sounded like a gun going off. Hearing the sound his muscles tensed, sending a shock wave of pain through his chest. The stabbing pain took over, and without any control, Danny doubled over. He let out a grunt as he pressed his hand on the incision. His chest hurt immensely, but he didn't know why though. What he did know was he needed to hold on to something before he would collapse. Because with only one hand wrapped tight around the flimsy IV stand he was still having trouble keeping his balance.

His legs weakened; Danny felt himself stagger, but a firm hand grabbed him by his arm, keeping him from sagging. "Hey, hey, hey, you okay?" Danny knew that voice. It was his partner. "Danny? Hey, you all right?" Steve sounded worried, but Danny didn't know if he was okay or not. "Buddy, look at me."

His heart was still hammering in his chest, but Danny turned his head to the voice anyway. "Mm? What?" He asked, his voice thick with confusion.

His partner stared at him with an aneurysm face. "Are you okay?"

Straightening, Danny let out a small groan and put his hand back on his bruised ribs. "Yeah, I'm all right." He guessed as he wasn't entirely sure.

"You sure?" Steve checked again. "You don't look all right. Are you hurt or in pain?"

"No-no I'm okay," Danny reassured, but truth be told, he couldn't think of one reason why his chest hurt like it did. It only could mean one thing; something was wrong.

"Okay, look, it was just a couple of metal tray's," Steve explained pointing at the orderly who was picking the trays off the floor.

Danny flicked between his partner and the orderly. He swore it sounded like a gunshot, but apparently two metal trays sounded the same. He didn't want to admit the mistake, so he quickly tried to find another excuse. "What? Yeah, I know. Just stretched my arm too far I think."

"Right, let's turn back around," Steve stated, and Danny knew better than to argue against because his partner didn't make it sound like it was a suggestion. As Steve let go of Danny's arm, he turned around and slowly started walking. They walked in complete silence again, only Danny could feel his friend's eyes stare concerned at him. Closing in on the nurse's station Steve cleared his throat, probably trying to break the silence. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Danny shot a suspicious glance at his partner. He was sure Steve was about to do a follow-up on what just had happened. "What is it?"

"You mentioned dreaming about Charlie and Grace. Kono and Adam. But what about me?" Steve shrugged with his shoulders.

"Seriously?" Danny stopped for a second before he continued walking.

"Yes, seriously? I wanna know if I was there, you know. Somewhere in your future?" Steve was speaking like he was really curious, but with a bit of a mocking undertone.

"You think I would call it a future if you were there?" Danny messed around before turning serious.

"Of course you were there. I told you about the restaurant, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I mean that's something we are working on right now. What about when we're old or something?"

Danny rolled with his eyes. "If it will stop this interrogation then yes. We were old. Sitting in the chairs by the water at your house, talking about life and my granddaughter."

Steve let out an uncontrolled chuckle. "Your granddaughter?"

"See," Danny said it with a high pitched voice. "I knew you would mock me."

"No, no, buddy, I think it's cute that's all." Steve tried hard, but Danny could tell he had trouble keeping his laugh under control.

"That's what you said about Grace calling me Danno, and we both know how that turned out."

"Oh come on, it's an endearment you know that," Steve briefly put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "But it's great that we were still best friends, right?"

Danny's free hand accompanied him while he spoke. "It is, but if you ever mention this conversation again, I'm gladly willing to change that future."

A broad smile appeared on Steve's face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love you too, pal," unexpected Tani and Junior stepped out of the elevator. "Hey, guys!" Steve called out.

Tani pulled Junior by his arm in the directions of both men. "Hi there," she looked surprised at Danny. "Look who's feeling better."

"Don't let him fool you he's still the same curmudgeon as he always has been," Steve teased while he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What's going on? What are you guys doing here?"

Junior held up the tablet he was holding. "We found something that might shed some light on the case, but maybe we should discuss that somewhere more private?"

Danny shared a curious look with Steve who nodded agreeing. "Sure, let's go back to Danny's room."

 **09:06 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

Coming back to Danny's room Steve still walked closely by his partner's side. Just in case he needed the support, only Steve guessed Danny wouldn't admit that with Junior and Tani around. Focused on his partner Steve was a bit caught off guard as Danny didn't walk over to the bed. Instead, he went past it and despite Steve's thinking his partner should rest Danny made his way over to the two chairs near the window.

Junior and Tani had followed them into the room. Tani took place on the empty bed as Danny went towards the chairs. "Well, we have some good and some bad news, but I'll start with the bad news," she stated, sounding a little sarcastic. Steve could already tell Tani didn't like the bad news and neither would he. "The bomb squad put the investigation on hold as there's no active threat."

Astound, Steve turned around to face Tani. "Excuse me? No active threat? The guy locked us in with a bomb and then pulled the trigger on Danny. That should be reason enough to keep the investigation going."

Junior didn't sit down or leaned against the wall. He stood steady with his feet a bit apart from one another, like he was standing in line to salute. "Commander, the shooter is dead. There's honestly no indication that the guy was working with or for someone. So it's because of our investigation that the bomb squat put it on hold."

"All right, I'll give Sergeant Bullock a call, ask for a favor," Steve answered as he understood the reason. He locked his eyes on his partner who had shuffled over to the chair.

With his hand still pressed on his ribs, Danny carefully sat down. "I think we're ready to hear the good news."

Junior was pleased enough to share the news. "The gunman's burner cell phone connected to the public wifi of the hospital. And because of that, I was able to locate it as it was still turned on."

"We found it outside in a trash can," Tani added. "He pulled it out, not me, so you can give him a dirty look." She teased, staring daring at Junior.

Junior ignored her for the time being. "Here's the thing you guys might find interesting," he unlocked the tablet and showed Steve a file. "We ran his phone records and his call log show he called this number seven times in one day."

Steve quickly scanned the call log. "Do we know who that number belongs to?" He asked intrigued.

Tani shook her head negatively. "No, unfortunately not. It's also a burner phone, but Jerry traced the calls back to downtown Honolulu."

"Well, so much for calling that good news." Danny pouted, still with his hand pressed on his ribs. Steve didn't mention it, but he was cautiously starting to get worried as his partner up to this time seemed to be in pain.

Apparently, he was the only one who noticed Danny's discomfort because Tani went on. "It's something, right? At least we know he was in contact with someone local."

Steve didn't think it was entirely useless information as well. "Good thinking, and it means there's someone who knows more about the gunman. Did you try calling the number?"

"We did, but the phone's off." Tani stated.

Junior cleared his throat. "Sorry to say this, but it also means Detective Williams might still be a target."

A brief moment of silence followed as the words settled into everyone's minds. Only Danny seemed to be the last one to take the threat seriously and snorted. "Okay, you're over exaggerating."

Steve side-eyed his partner astonished. He knew the comment was his partner's defense mechanism to block the anxiety, but before he could say something about it, Tani took the bait. "You mean he's starting to sound like you?" She bantered amused.

Not feeling in the mood for a joke Steve stared with a deep frown at his friend. "Listen, Danny, Junior's right. The fact there hasn't been a second attempt, doesn't mean there won't be one. That cell phone number belongs to someone and whomever that might be, might've known about the shooting," he put both his hands on his hips. "We need to go over the evidence again. There has to be something we missed that reveals the gunman's real identity."

Tani had become serious again. "Eric went for the second time over all the evidence from the crime scene, but there's nothing new."

Danny remained seated but leaned forward. "Hold up, did Eric sent you the photos of the crime scene? Is there a photo of the shooter?" he questioned, and while Steve rather wouldn't have shown it, Junior unlocked the tablet. He swiped a few times before he handed the tablet over to Danny. Steve was standing next to his partner, so he peeked at the picture as well. It was never a pleasure staring at a photo of a dead body, but knowing that man tried to kill Danny made it even harder to look at. "He took the saying; 'mind-blowing' quite serious, didn't he?"

Steve could tell Tani hesitated, but she went ahead and asked anyway. "You really don't know who that is?"

Danny's stare was focused on the picture. "No, I don't think so."

"You sure?" Junior questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure," Danny snapped and handed the tablet over to Steve. "I mean yes he looks familiar, but that's because he's the one that shot me. Other than that I don't know him."

Steve accepted the device and swiped the photo away. His partner made it pretty clear he was done talking about this particular subject. "All right, I'll give Sergeant Bullock a call, see if he can send the preliminary report. Maybe we can find something ourselves if they won't."

 **09:45 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

Half an hour later Danny was still seated in one of the two chairs near the window. His partner was sitting in the other chair while continuing working the case on his tablet. Steve had already called with Sergeant Bullock from the bomb squad, and they would send over their preliminary report. Meanwhile, Steve wanted to see if he could find something suspicious in the call log, or anything for that matter.

Danny tried typing his version of the incident report on his phone, but the damn screen was too small for his goofy thumbs. He let out an irritated sigh and lowered the phone onto his lap. Staring aside, Danny hoped his partner found something interesting. However Steve would've said so if he did, so Danny assumed Steve didn't. "Still nothing, huh?"

"Still nothing," Steve let out a sigh as well. "And I know it's frustrating, but I promise you that we'll keep searching until we know who he is and why he did what he did."

Appreciating Steve's dedication, Danny patted his partner on his shoulder. "Thanks," he'd been racking his brain on the identity of the shooter, but he simply didn't know the guy. The thought of not getting and closer made Danny exhausted. Mentally and physically, so maybe if he would rest for a bit, he would feel a bit more energized. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna lay down for a bit."

"Not at all, you should catch some rest." Steve rose up from his seat and tried to help Danny get up as well.

Danny waved the helping hand away and grabbed the IV stand. "I'm not that tired, I can get up myself," being stubborn he got up from the chair himself. Much slower than normal, because his chest still ached with the slightest movement. Danny shot a quick glance at the screen of his phone as it started vibrating in his hand. His ex-wife was video calling him. Something she'd never done before, so Danny's concern spiked immediately. "Hold up, it's Rachel." He said as he froze and pressed the button to answer. The call connected and a little blond boy popped up on his screen.

Charlie's hazel brown eyes lit up. "Danno!" He seemed ecstatic to see his father.

"Hey, buddy. What's up?" Seeing his son after more than a week, Danny's smile widened and reached his eyes. "Where you at?"

"Mommy and I are at the playground."

Danny lowered himself back into the chair. "You are? That sounds like fun."

"Where are you, Danno? Why aren't you home? Can you come to the playground?" Charlie bulldozed Danny with questions.

A grin appeared on Danny's face as he recognized the way his son rambled. "Slow down, tiger. I wish I could come, but do you remember when I told you I had to go away for a few days?" The boy nodded. "Yeah? Well, I have to stay away a little longer."

Danny could see the disappointment in his son's eyes. "How long? Are you going to be home before Christmas?"

Danny let out a huff of air. "Christmas? Buddy that's like three more days, right? Of course, I'll be home by then," a cough coming from his partner caught Danny's attention. Steve eyed him with an aneurysm face while he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Danny knew his partner disagreed with the promise, without saying a single word. Steve was right about it because even though Danny hoped to be discharged in a few days, he definitely needed some recovery time. Danny glanced back at his phone. "All right why don't you show me around on that playground. Do they have monkey bars?" He went for the distraction strategy. One of the things that he had found useful while parenting.

Charlie went ahead and ran across the playground. At least Danny imagined he did because the background flashed by. The screen went crazy as if it dropped out of his son's hands, but then it came up straight again. "Look Danno. It's a dandelion!" Charlie proudly showed the flower that had turned into a white globe. "You have to blow and wish you can come home soon."

"Okay, you ready? You have to blow with me because I don't think I can blow through the phone. On three, okay?" Charlie closed his eyes, they both counted to three and took a deep breath.

Blowing out the air a shooting pain stabbed chaotically through Danny's chest. Shocked by the pain, he let out a grunt and clamped his left hand on the right side of his chest. It felt as if something had snapped inside his chest. The sudden stab winded him, but his eyes were locked on his phone. Danny watched the dandelion seeds whirl into the air and his son's laughter scattered through the phone. Hearing the boy laugh made the pain ebb away, but something warm and wet flooded underneath his hand. This didn't feel right.

 **-HAWAIIFIVE0-**

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed this story. I'm thrilled with the response!**

 **I did read all the amazing reviews and I'll try to respond as soon as I find the time for it. For the people who gave their review as a guest, I did read them and I honestly am grateful for them, so thank you for the lovely words.**

 **As always my sincerest THANK YOU for reading this story and sticking with me as this story continues. And again sorry for the wait.**

 **Always love to hear your thoughts...**

 **DANNO7576**


	13. Chapter Eleven

**I KA WA MA MUA, I KA WA MA HOPE - FUTURE IS IN THE PAST**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters.**

 **A/N: First of all, I'm terribly sorry for not posting this final chapter sooner. Second,** **THANK YOU to everyone that has read, faved, followed or reviewed this story. You guys are incredibly** **kind, so** **I'm wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, spent with your loved ones. May the spirit of Christmas bring you, peace, joy and love! Hope you will enjoy this chapter and there's no shame in rereading the previous chapter as I can imagine it has been quite some time since you've read it. :)**

 **If there are some grammar of spellings issues left, they're all mine.**

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN**

 **09:45 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

From the moment Danny exhaled up to pulling a bloodied hand off his chest, Steve's mind had stopped processing at its average speed. All of it probably happened in just a split second, but not for Steve. He watched it happen in slow motion. The only thing that didn't move in slow-motion was his heart. It was racing, beating so fast it pounded against his chest. Frankly, his brain needed a minute to catch up, but once it did, his mind started to fire out negative thoughts like a machine gun. Trying to ignore the horrible feelings, Steve scanned his partner from head to toe, hoping he could come up with a simple explanation of why there was blood covering Danny's hand.

The dark fabric of his black t-shirt made it hard to see anything, but blood coated Danny's fingers, so it was coming from somewhere. Taking a closer look, Steve could see a rapidly spreading stain darkening the t-shirt even more. The spot was at the same height as the incision, so that could only mean one thing. The blood was coming from up there. A sickness crawled within him as he stared at the violent red that stained Danny's shaking hand. Steve blocked all the negative thoughts because he knew he needed to do something instead of standing around.

He grabbed his partner's hand and pressed it back on the height of the incision. Steve compressed it tightly, causing Danny to moan and grunt. The pain lingered on his face, but Steve didn't let go of his friend's hand. They needed to keep pressure to stop the bleeding. Danny's right hand, the one holding the phone, had slouched onto his lap. _Crap._ Charlie could be watching all of this. With his free hand, Steve snatched Danny's cellphone and turned the screen towards himself. Charlie was watching the seeds whirl into the air. The little boy didn't seem to notice his dad was no longer in sight. Steve faked a smile, making it look like there was nothing to worry about. "Hey Charlie, what do you got there?"

Now the boy did notice the absence of his father. _"Uncle Steve? Where's Danno?"_

"I just wanted to say hi to you if that's okay?" Steve pretended that was the reason.

According to his facial expression, Charlie didn't buy the excuse, but he went along. _"Okay."_

Steve could feel his friend's blood slowly spreading onto his hand. The pressure wasn't enough. He needed both his hands, but he couldn't just end the call. He needed to distract Charlie. "Yeah? Is your mom around, buddy?"

 _"Mommy, it's Uncle Steve."_ The little Williams handed over the phone without asking why.

Steve's hand became slick with blood; the red fluid was loosening his grip. There was no time to lose, he had to act quickly. The second Danny's ex-wife appeared on screen, and Steve went straight to the point. "Hi Rachel, I'm disconnecting all right?"

Confound by the abrupt request, Rachel accepted it nonetheless. _"Oh, of course, is everything okay with Daniel?"_ She questioned resilient as she probably could tell something was off.

"Yeah, don't worry," Steve reassured briefly. "Bye, Charlie!" he shouted in case the boy was still standing near his mother. He pressed the red button, disconnecting the video call. Steve tossed the phone on the side table and focused on his bleeding partner. Before he could even ask what was wrong, Danny already confirmed Steve's angst. "This's not good, is it?"

Steve flicked with his eyes from his partner to the hallway. He hoped someone would walk past the open door and would notice them, but no one did. Steve let out an anxious breath. "Shit, okay, hey, you'll be fine. Just breathe, I'll go get the doctor," he replaced his hand with Danny's right hand. "Keep pressure," he instructed while he jogged away towards the hallway. Standing in the door opening, he addressed the first nurse he saw. "Hey, I need doctor Keller in here, STAT. I think my partner's incision opened up."

The man nodded understandingly. "I'll page him."

Steve rushed back to his partner, who shot a despairing glance up at him as Steve approached. "Doc's coming," he comforted while he pressed one hand back onto both of Danny's hands.

Unwanted, the quarantine room memories flashed back into Steve's mind as the red liquid seeped through again and reached his hand. Only this time he didn't have to put his finger inside Danny's chest, at least Steve hoped he wouldn't have. To make sure he put a bit more pressure but doing so pain flashed across Danny's features. Immediately worried Steve stared at his ghostly pale partner who was taking shallow breaths. In Steve's opinion, his friend could pass out any second, so he better come up with a plan to have Danny lie down. "You think you can make it back to the bed?"

Danny didn't reply; instead, he nodded vaguely. Steve assumed it was a yes, so he hoisted Danny up by his left arm. Getting up Danny gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Steve froze instantly as he'd probably pulled his partner up a bit too fast. He waited a moment, giving Danny the time to fight through the pain, but apparently, he didn't need it. Danny focused on the target and stepped determined toward the bed. It only took two steps before he started reeling, so Steve tightened his grip and supported Danny over to the bed.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed Danny scrunched up his face as he let go of his chest. "Why's there so much blood?" He asked insecurely

"I don't know, buddy. But keep pressure on it, okay?" Steve instructed once again. Feeling completely desperate he shot a glance up to the door hoping someone would come to help. "The doctor will be here soon."

 **09:45 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

No matter how hard Steve tried, there was no way he was able to hide his desperation. Danny could see right through it, which made him automatically more anxious about the whole situation. Steve was the one that, most of the time, stayed cool under insane circumstances, except this had to be one those times he didn't. Danny ignored the concerned eyes of his partner for the time being because he didn't have the energy to worry for two. Instead, he did what Steve asked him to do and tried to keep the pressure on the incision. Danny was about to start reciting the 86' Mets lineup to calm his mind when a nurse entered the room. He thanked God and let out a relieved breath.

Doctor Keller came rushing in minutes later. In the meantime, the nurse had already helped Danny take his shirt off and made him lie down comfortably. She had gently pressed down on the incision for him with a squared wound dressing, but by the time the doctor arrived the bandage was already soaked. Dr. Keller came in prepared as he upon entering had grabbed a pair of surgical gloves and slipped them on. It took the doctor only five strides to stand next to the bed. For some reason, Danny counted them. Even though he was relieved to see the doctor, he knew deep down that it was going to hurt immensely once Dr. Keller was going to examine him.

"All right, Detective, what have you been up to?" Dr. Keller tried to smile, but it didn't hide the disquietude.

Danny shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know, but I do know that I've seen crime scenes with less blood."

"You guys already managed to make the isolation wing a crime scene, so let's not turn this room in one too, shall we?" Without any warning, Dr. Keller ripped the dressing off. Danny tried to stifle the moan that followed as the doctor had pulled the tape off his skin, but it came out louder than he wanted.

Danny looked down at his chest while Doctor Keller started cleaning up the incision. Once all the blood had been wiped away, the doctor examined the surgical cut precisely by touching and gently pressing down on it.

Doctor Keller placed his fingers on the exact spot that Danny had been avoiding ever since the surgery. He had accidentally touched it a couple of times, and each time pain burned like a hot knife that stabbed him in the chest. And as if that wasn't already bad enough, Dr. K added a little bit of pressure on the incision. Danny's eyes went wide and grasped a hand full of white hospital sheets riding through the pain.

The doctor let go immediately. "Sorry, are you in pain?"

"No, it feels amazing." Danny sassed, but he could hear it himself that it sounded weak and weary.

Doctor Keller faced the nurse. "Push five of morphine, please."

"No-no, don't," Danny seized the nurse's arm as she was about to get the drugs. "It's not that bad."

Dr. Keller sighed. "Normally, I would argue against, but I have this feeling I'm not gonna win." He signaled with his hand to the nurse that she should forget about it.

With his mind at ease that he wasn't getting the medication, Danny leaned his head back onto his pillow. From the corner of his eyes he could see his partner disagreeing. Which wasn't uncommon, but it was accompanied by his aneurysm face. Meaning the situation was really bothering Steve. The doctor continued checking the incision, so to distract himself from the pain Danny decided to see what was bothering his friend. He rolled his head to the side and leaned as far without disturbing the doctor with his examination. For the sake of privacy Danny whispered. "What's with the face?"

Steve looked disapprovingly down at Danny. His partner didn't bother to speak softly. "Really? You have to ask?"

Danny managed to keep his volume under control. "Apparently so, what the hell's the matter with you?"

"Here's the thing, I did the best I could making a clean and small incision, and yet you managed to ruin it in a couple of days." Steve pointed at the open incision.

As Dr. Keller was standing close, he joined the argument. "I have to be honest; you did a tremendous job, Commander." He looked up at both men.

Danny rolled his eyes, even though it was a bit stupid to think that the doctor wouldn't hear them. "Hogging the hero spotlight is one of his many talents."

Steve tapped Danny on the shoulder. "Hey, I saved your life. You know if I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be able to complain about it right now."

"I don't recall you giving me a major organ, or did I miss something?" Danny stared astounded at his partner.

Steve wagged his index finger. "No-no, you don't get to play that card anymore. We're even."

Danny scrunched his face with disbelief. "We're even?"

Steve crossed his arms in front of his muscular chest. "Yeah, and you agreed to it," he sounded amused. "You can ask Tani or Junior because before I slid my finger inside your chest, I said that I owed you for you giving me your liver, but that we're even now. You kept your mouth shut, and just as the rest of the universe knows that if someone stays silent, they agree."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth," Danny commented with a slightly raised voice. "Honestly, I don't know why I'm even talking to you."

Dr. Keller took the stethoscope out of his lab coat pocket. "I was wondering the same." He deadpanned.

For a second, there was a broad smile on Steve's face, but it disappeared rather quickly once the doctor was about to continue the examination. "Can you stitch it back up?" Steve questioned before Dr. Keller could go on.

"Wished it would be that easy," the doctor answered and directed the conversation toward Danny. "I'm afraid you also popped the stitches that bring together the deep dermis and underlying subcutaneous tissue. I can put in some additional stitches to help the epidermal layer of the incision close again, but I'm not going to open you up to fix the other sutures. You'll have to wait for it to heal on its own. It might delay your recovery a little, but it won't be a major setback," he informed and plugged the tips of the stethoscope in his ears. "You just need to replace the dressing more times a day."

"Great," Danny sighed, mainly so the doctor could listen to his lungs, but also because he was bummed out by another hitch in his recovery. He could handle this minor hold up as long as he was allowed to go home soon. Only at the sight of the doctor's concerned facial expression as he examined Danny's breathing, Danny doubted he would be going home anytime soon. "You are still discharging me before Christmas, right?"

"We'll have to do some more tests before I can let you go, but I was thinking about discharging you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Steve's eyes went wide as he probably was just as amazed as Danny.

"Yes, tomorrow," doctor K smiled, only to turn completely serious the next second. "One condition though, you have to promise to yourself that you'll take the time to heal. No rushing back to your normal routine. You'll stay at home and rest."

Danny accepted the inevitable. "Fine, I'll promise."

Doctor Keller nodded, approving. "Good," the nurse handed over a syringe. "Now try to relax, I'm gonna give you a local anesthetic to numb the area around the incision. You're not afraid of needles, are you?"

Seeing the giant needle, Danny could feel his facial color vanish instantly. "Maybe?"

 **DECEMBER 23RD - 9.30 AM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - SURGICAL WARD**

Almost 24 hours later, Steve arrived at the hospital again. He entered the building within one hand a tray with two to-go coffee cups and in the other hand, a box of Malasadas. He had picked them up along the way to celebrate's today's discharge. Repeatedly, Danny had told him that Steve didn't need to come by in the morning. The doctor was not going to discharge him until later that day. Only Steve promised Junior he would help him out at the shelter, he basically would've driven past the hospital anyway, so why not stop by. Steve walked up to the elevators, clumsily tried to press the button, but it was impossible with both hands in use. Lucky for Steve, a lady came up from behind and pushed it for him. "Thank you." Steve smiled kindly and stepped into the elevator.

He rode the elevator up to the surgical recovery ward and retraced his steps to his partner's room. Even though his partner wouldn't be discharged in the morning, Steve figured the hold up wouldn't be much longer. He was wrong. Dr. Keller came by ten minutes after Steve did. The doctor was still waiting for two test results to come back. Not that he expected the tests to come back negative, obviously he just wanted to be sure before sending Danny home. It shouldn't take all day, but both Steve and Danny knew better than that. Mildly disappointed by the holdup, the boys dived into the box of Malasadas till there was nothing left.

Swallowing the last bite of sweetness, Steve dumped the empty box in the trashcan. "Hey, you know that we would all understand if you're not feeling up for tonight's party, right?"

With his mouth still full, Danny responded, sounding a little offended. "You don't want me to come?"

Steve immediately defended himself. "No-no, of course I want you to come. It won't be the same without you. I just figured you might not be in the mood for a party?" He simply explained.

"In that case, you figured right, because have you ever seen me act like a party animal?" Danny inquired.

Steve let out a chuckle as he knew his friend hated most parties. "No, I have not."

"See," Danny agreed, wiping his mouth clean with a napkin. "But I really love the famous Steve and Eddie Christmas bash, so I'll be there."

Steve smiled broadly. "That's great, buddy," his cellphone started ringing, so he fished it out of his jeans pocket. Steve shot a quick glance at the caller ID before answering. He looked up at Danny and excused himself. "Sorry I gotta take this, it's Mary."

A bit caught off guard by the unexpected call from his sister, Steve answered. "Hey Mary, what's up?" his little sister started rambling on the other side of the line. "What, you're here? Like on Oahu? That's great, we should go downtown to the parade, Joni will love it, I promise," he suggested as he knew Mary absolutely loved the parade as a little girl. As expected Mary agreed ecstatically. "All right, I'll see you guys there." Steve disconnected and pocketed his phone.

"Go. Get out of here," Danny ordered, pointing to the door. Steve complied and walked toward the door. "Say hi to Mary and Joni for me." Danny said quickly before his friend stepped out.

Steve turned back around, standing in the door opening. "I'll come by later today to pick you up, okay?" Danny nodded and signaled he should leave. Steve smiled and left.

 **DECEMBER 23RD - 4:00 PM KING'S MEDICAL CENTER - ENTRANCE**

The rest of the day turned out different from what Steve had planned. When he arrived at the parade, he stumbled upon a robbery of an armored services van. Things escalated quickly, and before he knew it, he was going after the suspects, evacuating the downtown mall and shooting the guy after taking fire. Steve had involved the entire team, and even Adam helped out as he was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in the mall. Unfortunately, Steve had to work this case without his partner because Danny was still held up at the hospital.

Around three PM, Steve had received a text from his partner saying he was about to get discharged, and he would call an Uber to bring him home. Steve disagreed and texted back that he was on his way. Not that any of that was true. He was still at the scene to close the case, but he would do his best to get there as fast as he could.

More than an hour late, Steve finally arrived at the hospital. He spotted his partner sitting right outside the entrance. Danny was settled on a bench with one leg across the other. His arms stretch out atop the stone backrest. His eyes were closed while he visibly enjoyed some rays of sunshine. Steve parked his truck as close as possible to the entry. Climbed out his truck and jogged around the vehicle toward Danny.

"Yo, hey, I'm sorry I'm so late, but,-" Steve started, but Danny cut him off.

"Hope you did the paperwork as well. Or did you, as usual, leave it on my desk?" Danny wondered while he rose from the concrete bench.

"What? How'd you know?" Steve asked, taken aback by the correctness of Danny's statement.

Danny grabbed the travel bag standing on the ground. "There's only one reason why you would be late, and that's because you ran into trouble."

Steve grasped the bag out of Danny's hand. "The guys started shooting around the block, so what was I supposed to do? Ignore it? Wait for them to show up during the parade and start shooting with lots of innocent people standing on the side?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. You did the right thing, but you have this magnetic field around you, attracting all the trouble from the entire island. So my point is that it's no surprise to me that you're late." Danny rambled, accompanied by some wild hand gestures.

Steve opened the back door and dropped the bag on the rear seat of his truck. "Believe me when I say I didn't go look for it this time. It just happened, okay?"

"No-no," Danny shook his head and argued against his partner. "I'm positive it didn't just happen. You just have a trouble sensor. You can't stay out of trouble for two days tops."

Steve rolled his eyes and held the door of the passengers' seat open. "Let's get inside the car, and I'll tell you how it all went down."

 **DECEMBER 23RD - 4:07 PM - HIGHWAY**

On the ride home, Steve talked Danny's ears off about the crazy day he had. Danny was now up to date on all the details and a little jealous he wasn't there to help out. He was aware of the fact that he complained a lot about the job, but if he had to choose between being in the hospital with a fresh gunshot wound or working a case. He would, without a doubt, choose the last option — especially this Christmas centric case.

Still Impressed by the part of the veterans helping the team out, Danny looked aside at Steve. "I really missed out on this one, didn't I?"

Steve took the exit of the highway and nodded, agreeing. "You did, but I invited all the veterans to the bash tonight, so you'll get to meet them after all."

"That's a nice thing of you to do," Danny checked the time on his cell phone. He really wanted to buy a Christmas tree before heading home so he could go ahead a start decorating the damn thing before it was too late. Besides, the bash wouldn't be until seven PM, so there was plenty of time left to go and get one. He would do it himself though, but as he was not allowed to lift anything heavy, he needed Steve's help. "Hey, we still have some time, right? Would you mind if we go pick up a Christmas tree? It's not far from here."

Steve shot a quick glance at his watch. "Can't we go tomorrow? I still have a few things to do before people start coming over."

Danny didn't care if it was the most beautiful tree in history. He would already be satisfied with a small and simple tree, but he just really needed one though. "It'll take like five minutes. Can't have Grace and Charlie come over to a house without a Christmas tree, right?"

"I'm sure they won't mind if we pick one up tomorrow. It'll be more fun that way." Steve said and took a left on the road, en route to Danny's home, but in the opposite direction of the tree farm.

Being annoyed by the stubbornness of his friend, Danny sighed and looked out the window. He knew Steve could be hard-headed sometimes, but Danny had hoped the Christmas spirit would've mellowed him a little. Well, Steve's day had been pretty rough, and it indeed turned out different from what he had hoped. And with a lot of things on his mind about the party tonight, Danny decided to give his partner the benefit of the doubt and let it slide. Besides, Steve had done plenty for Danny the past days, so he was okay with it; they would go tomorrow.

They drove in silence for about five minutes before they arrived at Danny's place. Steve pulled over his truck on the side of the road as Danny's Camaro was parked on the driveway. Steve had already climbed out of the car before Danny could even open the passengers' door. With the travel bag in one hand and a key fob in the other, Steve waited for Danny to get out of the truck as well. Danny was thankful to be home, and yet he knew that once he got inside, he needed to do a lot of work. Things like; decorating, gift wrapping, card writings. Everything had been put on hold ever since they were put in quarantine.

Danny let out a big breath as he snatched the keys out of his partner's hand. Leading the way, Danny walked up to the front door and Steve followed him directly. As Danny turned the key, he swore he heard some noise coming from inside, but his friend didn't even blink when he turned and faced him. Steve also rolled his eyes because of the holdup.

Danny shrugged, and he opened the door anyway. Stepping inside, he stopped dead in his tracks. The entire five-0 Task Force standing in his living room. And that was not the only thing. They had decorated the whole house.

"Welcome home!" Tani shouted excited while holding a box of Christmas ornaments in her hands.

Completely surprised and a little overwhelmed, Danny didn't answer. Instead he just looked around the festive living room. For starters there was a perfect sized tree standing near the window. Fully decorated with twinkling fairy lights and ornaments made by his kids. All the gifts were neatly wrapped and lying underneath the tree. The fireplace was covered with a beautiful garland and Christmas stockings. One for each of his kids, one for himself and, of course, one saying 'Uncle Steve'. There was even a Christmas song playing softly in the background. This was above all his Christmas expectations for this year.

Steve dropped the bag on the floor. He looked at Danny with a radiant smile on his face. "So, what'd you think?"

Danny was never speechless, but right now, he had trouble finding the right words. "This-this is," he stammered. "Thank you, buddy." Danny walked up to Steve and opened his arms to give a hug.

Steve carefully wrapped his arms around Danny. "Merry Christmas, Danno."

 **-THE END-**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!**


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